Help Me Save More Dogs from BARC

Christina Allen is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hi all-

Rescue has always been important to me, but living in Texas has been both incredibly eye opening and devastatingly heartbreaking. I volunteer at BARC, Houston's city shelter, with a group of incredible people, who dedicate 24/7 to networking euthanasia-listed dogs in the hopes that they can be saved. Some dogs aren't so lucky and find themselves still listed on the Code Red report at the 11th hour, when they can be euthanized at any moment.

8 dogs. That's the number that I have fostered so far this year. It pales in comparison to the lives that are lost - some days 1 dog is euthanized but much more often, 4 or 5 dogs, and unspeakably, sometimes it's as many as 16 dogs in one day.

I have had the great honor of pulling 4 dogs from the euthanasia list when no rescues backed them: Penelope, Romeo, Ralphie and Molly. I also caught a gorgeous Ally, an 8 month old shepherd, who was a stray and found herself scrounging for food in my back alley. I take on 100% of the financial burden for all of them. And boy, am I glad I did. These dogs have all created indelible marks on my heart.

I have also worked with some great rescues pulling another 3 dogs - Charlie, Ren, and Sage. In these cases, I close the financial gap to ensure that the dogs under my care receive excellent vet care. Operating a rescue is expensive and oftentimes rescues have no choice but to rely on low cost vet clinics so that they can help more dogs. When a dog comes into my home, I want to ensure their health, so I take them to my vet where I always cover the medical bills for anything beyond what the rescue can afford.

When pulling a dog from the shelter, you are faced with unknown vet expenses, since shelters do minimal vetting and viruses and bacteria are aplenty in the shelter environment. Penelope was high heartworm positive and needed to be spayed, Ally needed to be spayed and get all of her vaccines, Charlie had a neuter go awry and have a new surgery, Romeo was low heartworm positive with a bad URI and pneumonia, Ralphie had giardia, Molly needed a spay and sweet Sage is also high heartworm positive and requires 3 heartworm injections. All of these are curable but they don't come cheaply.

I have personally spent about $15,000 this year on the dogs. Giving dogs the opportunity to go on and live a life filled with happiness and love is well worth it. But, there also comes a point where I cannot continue without some financial assistance. If you can spare any amount to go toward my rescue dog fund, it would be so very much appreciated. The faces below would like to say THANK YOU!

Penelope