UPDATE: The Nancy Sheretz Family Foundation made an emergency match donation to BARCS. They pledged an emergency match for all donations to the BARCS Medical Care Fund dollar-for-dollar up to $20,000 through next Sunday, June 2.
A raid on a rowhome in Northwest Baltimore early Thursday caught neighbors, like Lisa Thomas, by surprise.
“I wondered what was going on. It had to have been something going on,” Thomas told us, “I saw a bunch of Animal Control trucks and I saw a bunch of sheriffs and police, and they said Animal Control—-they knocked the door in.”
Inside the house, officers found evidence of an unlicensed breeding operation with crates of dogs stacked one on top of the other.
83 dogs in all—-60 adults and nearly two dozen puppies, which apparently had been listed for sale on a social media site at up to $1,500 apiece.
RELATED: BARCS takes in 83 dogs, one cat after being found in crates in Baltimore home
“Many of the dogs were covered in their own excrement,” said BARCS Philanthropy & Communications Director Bailey Deacon, “A lot of them were matted. A lot of them had roaches living within the mattes in their fur.”
The shelter had to set up triage to offer emergency medical care to the dogs, and they’re hoping donors can help cover the costs, which are estimated at roughly $30,000.
For lack of space, they’re also offering free adoptions this holiday weekend after shuffling dozens of dogs into foster care.
“We really need people to come down this weekend and adopt the pre-existing dogs that we had in the shelter,” said Deacon, “So a lot of people are saying, ‘Well, we want to help with these ones. Can we adopt and foster these?’ We have to hold these dogs until they are released to BARCS and we do not know how long that’s going to take."
