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Backwoods Barkers Rescue

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Gladewater, TX
Backwoods Barkers Rescue

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Backwoods Barkers Rescue saves East Texas dogs from streets and shelters, relying solely on fosters, volunteers and community donations.

To get as many animals out of our overpopulated area, we send our dogs to Canada once they have been adopted. At Backwoods Barkers Rescue, we believe every dog deserves a chance to be safe, loved, and cherished. In the backwoods and small towns of East Texas, too many dogs are left to fend for themselves on the streets or face uncertain futures in overcrowded shelters. We step in where hope is fading, rescuing the forgotten, the fearful, and the abandoned. With no facility of our own, we place each dog in the care of dedicated foster families who open their homes and hearts until forever families are found. Our rescue runs entirely on the kindness of others, the volunteers who give their time, the fosters who share their space, and the donors whose generosity keeps food in bowls, paws off the streets, and tails wagging. Together, we’re not just saving dogs - we’re rewriting their stories.

11/01/2026

Sunday shenanigans!! After a week or so of trying to gain her trust, we finally got the girl who’s been staying behind Motel 6 in Henderson!!
We did it the old-fashioned way—with a string—because she was ready to go inside the trap!! She’s going to take some work, but we’re up for the challenge! We heard she’d been there for months, but we don’t know exactly how long.
Leigh Ann was the string puller because she’s faster and calmer!! This little girl was already stealing our package of zip ties and ready to play! But anytime Leigh Ann got close, she’d run behind my back.
She is going to be an amazing dog!! ❤️🐾
We are naming her Cricket

10/31/2026

🐾💚 LITTLE DOG. BIG INJURY. 💚🐾

Meet Armadillo! 🥹

This precious little 4-year-old boy came into animal control on October 27th as a stray with a severely injured back leg. We don’t know what happened to him, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. 💔

The shelter veterinarian believes his injury was caused by significant trauma that ruptured the ligaments in his right hind leg. His knee is displaced, and the joint is rotated an unbelievable 90 degrees! 😢

The shelter vet recommended amputation unless the leg can be saved.

❤️ Thankfully, Armadillo is now safe with Backwoods Barkers Rescue and in a loving foster home!

He’ll be seeing our veterinarian next week to determine the best course of treatment. We’re holding out hope that his leg can be saved, but if amputation is what’s best for him, we’ll make sure he gets the care he deserves.

One thing we already know? This little guy is going to come with a BIG vet bill! 🫣

We couldn’t turn our backs on those big brown eyes and adorable ears, and we’re hoping you won’t either.

🙏 We’re asking for donations to help cover Armadillo’s upcoming veterinary expenses. Whether it’s surgery to repair his leg or an amputation, every dollar will help us give him the chance at a happy, pain-free life.

We may not know what Armadillo’s future looks like just yet, but we know it’s going to be a whole lot brighter than his past. ❤️

🐾 WAYS TO DONATE:

💙 Venmo:
https://venmo.com/u/BackwoodsBarkersRescue

💛 PayPal:
https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/DPVBL4RUFWFUC

🐾 Please donate if you can, and SHARE if you can’t!

From all of us at Backwoods Barkers Rescue, THANK YOU for helping us give dogs like Armadillo the second chances they deserve! ❤️

10/31/2026

Today was transport day!! Fifteen dogs left for their new homes in Canada!! 🇨🇦🐾
🐾 Milo was an owner surrender who is going to love the cold weather up north!
🐾 Boomer and Millie were running the streets together when animal control arrested them!! These two cuties landed at Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center, and since they were together, we couldn’t leave one behind! They are the cutest criminal duo ever!
🐾 Bennu had owners who left him to die, but a kind family stepped in to save him. He may have three legs, but this kid runs like the wind and is the biggest lovebug!
🐾 Boba, aka Bobbie, was nothing but a bag of bones when she arrived at LACA. She was so skinny that everyone thought she was a whippet mix! Well, her foster family fixed that problem! This healthy, happy girl has some meat on her bones now and is loving life!
🐾 Furricane, aka Farrah, also came from LACA. This girl had some barrier issues, so she hit the jackpot with a foster mom who is a trainer and worked with her!
🐾 Gizmo and Limewire, aka Oreo, also came from LACA and shared the same foster family. Both were staff favorites at the shelter, and they are just great dogs!
🐾 Heidi is a stunner with her amber eyes! She was a stray in Gladewater, flirting with way too many boys, so we snatched her up to keep her virtue intact! 😂 Her foster family taught her all about indoor living and love.
🐾 Honey was saved by her foster, and what a beauty she is!! She is going to love her new life!
🐾 Idgie was on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere when her foster family found her. They brought her home and taught her how to enjoy life!
🐾 Gregory, aka Jiffy, was a little miracle baby!! An officer found him caught in some bushes and took him to LACA. He weighed just 3 pounds! Now he’s around 9 pounds, spoiled rotten, and loving life!
🐾 Loli came from the Sulphur Springs shelter and was supposed to leave last month, but she had a seizure. The vet discovered some kidney issues, which have since been resolved, and she is happy and healthy now!
🐾 Pillsbury also came from LACA. She originally arrived with Dough, who went to Canada last month. She is precious, loved her foster family, and has learned how wonderful life can be! No more street living!
🐾 Remi was an owner surrender, and this baby is bothered by nothing!! Having a good time is her one requirement!
Some of these dogs aren’t pictured with their fosters because emergencies kept a few from being there today. But every one of these journeys was made possible by a foster who said yes!
Our fosters are the real heroes. They give these dogs safety, patience, and love while preparing them for a whole new life. Fifteen dogs are headed toward their happily ever after because of them. Thank you!! ❤️🐾

10/30/2026

🐾❤️ LONG OVERDUE WEEZER UPDATE - THE HAPPY ENDING WE ALL PRAYED FOR! ❤️🐾

Remember our sweet Weezer? The girl who was hit by a car and left lying in a ditch, fighting for her life? That’s her on the left.

There was a time we weren’t sure she would even survive. After having one of her back legs amputated, we discovered her remaining hip was also fractured, requiring an FHO surgery. 💔

We went from praying she would survive to praying she would someday walk again.

Well, Weezer had other plans! 🥹❤️

Not only is this miracle girl walking, thriving, and loving life, but she has officially been ADOPTED BY HER AMAZING FOSTER! 🎉🐾

While most of our dogs find their happily ever afters in Canada, we knew Weezer needed something a little different. With her physical limitations and absolute terror of staircases, we wanted to make sure her forever home would be somewhere she could safely and comfortably navigate as she ages.

And as it turns out, her forever home was right where she had been healing all along. ❤️

Her foster didn’t just help save her life. She gave Weezer the love, patience, and care she needed to fight her way back. And somewhere along the way, they became family, as evidenced by the pictures on the right.

From a ditch on the side of the road to a forever home filled with love.

THIS is why we do what we do. Happy tails, sweet Weezer! You fought so hard for this life, and we couldn’t be happier that you get to spend it with the person who helped you get here. 🐾❤️

10/22/2026

Remember the girl on the left? That is Katy Pawry (aka Harley), now Dolly.

From unwanted and abandoned on an oil lease road in Hallsville… to living her absolute BEST life in Canada. ❤️🇨🇦🐾

This sweet girl spent weeks alone on an oil lease road before a kind man working the lease reached out for help.

When we got her, we discovered she was microchipped. She had been adopted from our local shelter, and her home was LESS THAN A MILE from where she’d been surviving on her own.

She had a broken lead hanging from her collar. 💔

Her owners had never reported her missing. And when they were located, they made it clear they no longer wanted her. They didn’t care where she’d been, what she’d endured, or what happened to her next.

But we cared.

We took her in, and she went to a wonderful foster home where she slowly learned that not all humans would let her down. That she was safe. That she was loved. And that she deserved so much more than the life she’d been given.

And then came Canada. 🇨🇦❤️

LOOK AT HER NOW!!! 🥹

Cozying up by the fireplace, exploring the lake, snuggling with her family, and living a life that most dogs could only dream of.

The first pictures are where her story with us began. The second set? That’s what a second chance looks like.

THIS is why we do what we do.

And THIS is precisely why we love our Canadian adopters so much. They don’t just give our dogs homes. They give them adventures, comfort, security, unconditional love, and the beautiful lives they’ve always deserved.

To her amazing foster family, our Canadian rescue partners, and the family who saw her worth when others didn’t - THANK YOU. 💚

She went from being less than a mile from a home that didn’t want her to thousands of miles away in a home that absolutely adores her.

Sometimes the best thing that ever happens to a dog is finding out that the people who gave up on them weren’t the end of their story. ❤️🐾

10/18/2026

Every rescue works differently. Some adopt locally, and some don’t. There is no single right or wrong way—we all share the same goal: saving lives.
I want to explain how Backwoods Barkers Rescue works because we often receive criticism for not doing local adoptions, especially when we post a popular breed. It’s hard when the mixed-breed dogs we plead for receive little interest, but a popular dog brings requests and frustration over our adoption policy.
We do make exceptions, but approximately 95% of our dogs are destined for our rescue partners in Canada. About 90% of the dogs we save come from local shelters, where they were already available for adoption and had no takers.
When we post a dog as urgent, that dog has very little time. We cannot commit to saving a dog unless we have a foster. Without a foster, that dog may lose its life. It really is that serious.
Some rescues offer foster-to-adopt programs. We do not. Our fosters provide temporary, loving homes where dogs can learn to feel safe and live as part of a family. Many of the dogs we take in have never known that life. They need patience, guidance, and love.
As fosters, we help them heal, teach them how to be dogs, and eventually let them go. My heart breaks when I say goodbye to most of them. Fostering isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. It is deeply rewarding, but it can also be incredibly hard.
There are many wonderful rescues that adopt locally. We have valid reasons for the way we operate, and one of the biggest is managing returns. We are entirely foster-based, with dogs living in our homes. We have no facility, so an unexpected return means finding an available foster space. We also rely on our rescue partners’ experience to match dogs with their adoptive families.
Most of our dogs receive their veterinary care through a partner rescue and are under that rescue’s ownership. Their placements are not mine alone to decide.
It hurts to have helped save thousands of dogs and still face harsh criticism because we couldn’t adopt a particular dog to someone. You don’t have to choose our rescue, but I hope this helps you understand our process and respect the work behind it.
Our role is to give these dogs a safe place to land and a chance at a future. Our fosters and rescue partners make that possible. ❤️🐾

10/17/2026

Leigh Ann happened to be at Healthy Paws with a foster when she spotted this kid darting in and out of traffic. We immediately raced over with a trap and luckily nabbed him! He was so exhausted that he collapsed and refused to budge—until he saw the foster dog.
Trip is only a year old, and life has not been kind to him. You can tell that the comforts of living inside are all new to him. This sweet heeler mix quickly bonded with Leigh Ann, then with Madison at the vet. ❤️
Trip needs a week of boarding before his foster can take him, but thankfully, Madison took him home for a night after his surgery. He went from dodging traffic to being tucked in at bedtime. This kid is loving the good life!
If you can foster and help us save more lives like Trip’s, please reach out. We are so full that it’s becoming hard to help the dogs who need us. Trip was in immediate danger, and we were lucky someone offered to foster him.
A safe place to land can change a dog’s whole world. 🐾

10/15/2026

We want to give a big shout-out to Cindy Barton Ho**er !! ❤️🐾
Cindy is always willing to help rescues with rides, fostering, and whatever else is needed! Kitties are her main focus, so she also helps in an area we don’t cover.
Trapping is hard work with some very odd hours, but Cindy is always game to help release the little varmints that wander into our traps and rebait them!
This little cutie was caught last night by a kind man named Corey at Casey’s gas station on the corner of Eastman and Cotton. He had been crossing Cotton every day in heavy traffic. Cindy was ready to head into the woods at 9 p.m.—or even later—but Corey saved the day!
Little Casey’s life changed last night. From here on out, we want nothing but happiness and love for him! ❤️
Thank you, Corey, for getting this baby to safety, and thank you, Cindy, for always showing up for us and so many other rescues. We appreciate you more than you know!!
Also appreciate Leigh Ann helping late nights searching for this kiddo!!

10/15/2026

Olive was trapped Friday in Carthage Texas after running the streets for months. Our best guess is that she was used for breeding. She was so matted and miserable, but her life is already changing!
She was vetted this week and went to her new foster mom, who’s also a groomer! Olive hit the jackpot!! 🐾❤️
No more babies or hard days for this sweet girl—just love, comfort, and the care she deserves!

10/11/2026

Special thanks to Treats 4 Paws for all our goodies !! We are very thankful !! Also great seeing you and all our fellow rescue friends ! ♥️🐾♥️

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Gladewater, TX
75647

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