Fetch 22

07/08/2026

URGENT: WE NEED FOSTER FAMILIES TODAY

Our dog kennels are completely full.

We started today with more dogs than we have kennels to house them, and we just learned that a large group of dogs is on their way to BARCS from a Baltimore City Animal Control warrant case. Simply put, we are out of space.

We urgently need foster families who can temporarily take in large adult dogs. With All Paws Home happening this Saturday, we're hopeful many animals will find loving homes this weekend—but until then, more dogs continue to arrive, and we need your help to make room for them.

Fostering is one of the fastest, most lifesaving ways you can help right now. When you open your home to one dog, you don't just save that life—you also open a kennel for the next animal who has nowhere else to go.

Our community has stepped up for these animals time and time again, and we're so grateful. If you've ever considered fostering, today is the day.

Please help us give these dogs a safe place to land. Even a short-term foster makes a lifesaving difference.

Can you open your home today? Email our foster team at [email protected], visit us at 2490 Giles Rd., Baltimore, MD, or head to www.barcs.org/foster to learn more and submit a foster application. Every foster home creates space for another animal with nowhere else to go.

07/08/2026

EMERGENCY @ BARCS: This morning, BARCS is 13 dog kennels over capacity with another 12 dogs on the way after they were found living alone in a home under a search warrant. Sadly, yes, this is almost the same heartbreaking situation we experienced yesterday.

In just the past 48 hours, we've taken in 92 animals.

To make room, our team is "shifting down" dogs to double up kennels and setting up temporary crates. This is an emergency measure only. These crates and shared kennels are not appropriate housing beyond today, and every dog needs a kennel of their own as quickly as possible.

The fastest way to help is to come to BARCS today:

Looking to adopt? Visit us between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. It's Waived Fee Wednesday, so adoption fees are waived.

Interested in fostering? Come to BARCS between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Our team will help match you with a dog who needs a temporary place to stay.

*Please do not call or email. If you're able to help, the best thing you can do is simply come to the shelter today!

We're also extremely short-staffed this week. Our team is doing everything possible to care for every animal while managing this sudden influx. If you visit today, we truly appreciate your patience and kindness.

We also want to be transparent about what's at stake:

BARCS is an open-admission shelter. We do not control how many animals arrive at our doors, and we cannot stop accepting animals from Animal Control who have nowhere else to go. When intake dramatically exceeds the number of animals leaving through adoption, foster, rescue, or reunification, we eventually run out of safe, humane housing.

If we cannot create enough space today, BARCS may be forced to make euthanasia decisions solely because there is no safe place left to house additional dogs. We do not want that to happen. It is the hardest reality of open-admission animal sheltering, and we work every day to prevent it.

We're incredibly hopeful that our All Paws Home event this Saturday will help many animals find homes. But we have to get there first. We need dogs leaving the shelter today, tomorrow, and Friday so they have the chance to be at Saturday's event—and so we can continue making room for the animals arriving every day.

Every adoption and every foster home directly creates space for another dog in need. If you've been thinking about adopting or fostering, today is the day to come.

02/05/2026

02/05/2026