After Shelter is Overrun with New Intakes, Major League Baseball Team Pitches in to Find Homes
Michelle Milliken
As we get into the warmer months, animal shelters experience their busiest time of the year. This is due to factors like kitten season and more animals in general coming into the facilities. One Maryland shelter was feeling the weight of the season, but a Major League Baseball team went to bat for them.
The Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) recently announced that they were completely out of space and were in a state of emergency as a result. They explained that they were bursting at the seams, with 303 new animals taken in within a week, leaving them with 12 more dogs that they had space for. They said they were concerned this may lead to impossible choices.
A baseball team in their hometown wasn’t having this on their watch, and their effort to help was a big hit.
On an Instagram post soon after the shelter had asked for help, BARCS wrote, “The Baltimore Orioles heard that BARCS was in a state of emergency and, quite literally, stepped up to the plate. We have been invited to bring our BFF Waggin’ and adoptable dogs to Maryland Square inside Camden Yards (located near Gate A) for Sunday and Monday’s games!”
The event at the Orioles’ ballpark brought forever homes to more than 20 pets, with 18 dogs and four cats headed to greener pastures, thus opening up a little more room to breathe for the shelter. The adoptions came as 26 animals in all visited the park, meaning most of the visitors found homes on site!
You can see pictures of the animals at the ballgame on the shelter’s Instagram. Those include pups and their new owners, and a sweet cat, who would obviously want to see some birds - you know, Orioles - at the ballpark. There was also a list of adoptees, including cats named Masterblast and Gravy, as well as dogs named Barnacle Boy, Shiny, Dinocular, and Chow Mein.
The shelter says it wasn’t just the Orioles who helped these animals have a ball, though.
They wrote, “Additionally, we want to thank everyone who visited our shelter this weekend to adopt. In total, 90 animals gained last names this weekend—wow! Also, 17 more are also on hold to be adopted tomorrow or later this week; 13 dogs were placed into foster homes for the holiday weekend; and 11 animals were saved through our rescue network!”
To keep tabs on the other pets at BARCS, you can follow the shelter’s Instagram page. To see pets available for adoption, click here!
