Since 1979 the Baldwin Animal Rescue Center has provided direct services to help and protect abused, abandoned and neglected pets. With only a small staff and a working group of highly dedicated volunteers, we coordinate a countywide effort to provide rescue, rehabilitation, and re-homing of hundreds of these pets each year. We are not a shelter, nor do we provide animal control services, as Alabama state law mandates these services be provided by local and county government. BARC is an ADOPTION AGENCY, not a shelter! So, what we do is focus our efforts on rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing displaced pets. Although our chief role is as an “adoption agency” for pets, we are proud to provide the additional programs and services described herein:

Monthly events staffed by volunteers and staff who pick up animals from local shelters and transport them to high profile, high-traffic locations and festivals in the community (pet stores, Fairhope Arts & Crafts, Daphne Jubilee, veterinary clinics, etc.). These events are publicized in advance via print, radio and television. The public is invited to meet and adopt the animals. Adopters must complete an application and sign a contract. All adopted pets are required to be spayed or neutered. Since 1998, the Humane Society has placed over 8000 pets.

BARC is an ADOPTION AGENCY FOR PETS, not a shelter! Our main focus is to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home shelter animals. Many people call us when they must find a new home for a pet. These pets must remain in their own home to allow us time to search for a new, more appropriate placement. We then make a profile of the pet, and begin matching it with profiles of potential adopters on file. We advertise these pets in weekly classified ads and radio shows. We also run photos with stories that are published as a public service as newspaper space permits. This advertising results in a multitude of calls each week. Hundreds of pets have been placed in loving new homes through this program. Our efforts help reduce the number of pets taken to shelters while affording us an opportunity to screen the potential adopters for suitability. It also gives us yet another occasion to educate potential pet owners of the importance of spaying or neutering their pet and other important responsibilities of a pet owner. Our Family-to-Family program helps families who must re-home a pet for whatever reason. We always SCREEN NEW POTENTIAL ADOPTERS so that we can make the PERFECT MATCH! We also subsidize spaying / neutering for the pets concerned. For all this we still charge our normal adoption fee. (which not only helps fund our efforts, but is also an effective screening tool!) This successful program is the least stressful alternative for the pets involved, as they are never abandoned to or LOCKED UP in a shelter!

In order to minimize pet over-population, and reduce euthanasia as a means of animal control, every pet whose life is touched through any Humane Society adoption effort must be spayed or neutered. Every adopter receives a voucher to have this done at no additional cost. In addition, pet owners whose annual household income is $30,000 or less may qualify for a low cost spay or neuter for their pet, regardless of whether or not the pet was adopted through the Humane Society.

This innovative BARC program places kittens and adult cats in wonderful new homes through select local pet stores. These stores have graciously entered into an agreement with the BARC to donate space in their stores to display and place adoptable felines. The Iams Company donates a 20lb bag of kitten food each month to each store to feed the felines. The stores provide litter and keep the cages immaculately clean. The stores’ staffs complete BARC's Adoption Contract for each feline, and screen for suitability. BARC purchased the vet clinic-quality stainless steel cage units from monies collected through the “Doggie Banks” you see in local retail stores throughout the county. Our Good Samaritan Fund provides each feline the following veterinary care prior to inclusion in the program:

• Combo test for Feline Aids & Leukemia
• First FVRCP (feline distemper) inoculation
• Deworming -fecal exam that must show negative for internal parasites
• Visual skin exam that must be negative for ringworm
• Rabies inoculation (adult felines only)

Adopters pay an adoption fee, and receive a voucher to have the feline spayed or neutered at no extra cost. This fee helps to offset a portion of the cost BARC incurs for each cat's veterinarian care prior to inclusion in the program, and for the altering of each feline.

When our foster network or volunteers find an abandoned animal that is injured or ill, (hit by a car, mange, malnourished, etc.) the BARC may, on a limited basis, provide a voucher to a participating Veterinarian towards the animal’s care. It is NOT our intention to pay individual owners’ vet bills, thus the circumstances surrounding such incidents are vigilantly scrutinized and must be approved by the Executive Director.

The Humane Society has recruited a limited number (we always need more!) of wonderful families who will keep pets in their homes and work in conjunction with other volunteers to actively seek permanent homes.

WE DESPERATELY NEED MORE FOSTER HOMES!
If you would like more information about Fostering a pet in your home, contact BARC at 251-928-4585 ext 101.

Because of our high profile in the region, we field thousands of calls each year with questions about every conceivable animal issue. Our office volunteers and staff are trained and armed with volumes of information to refer callers to the appropriate entity for assistance. Every day, people call BARC for help with questions regarding shelter locations, lost & found pets, reports of animal abuse and neglect, placing and adopting pets, and general questions about pet related services in our county. Volunteers work one ½ day shift per week helping to answer these calls.

BARC staff and volunteers pick up and find homes for hundreds of shelter pets each year via our monthly pet adoption events. We actively seek donations of pet foods, towels and blankets, toys, treats and other items that might make pedts in shelters happier and more comfortable. We frequently pick up these items from the donors and deliver them to the shelters. We work with shelter management to request medical assistance through our Good Samaritan Program for any adoptable animals who may be injured or ill and require medical treatment that the shelter cannot provide. Our website features information for each shelter including locations, contact information and photos of shelter pets available for adoption. These photos are taken by BARC staff and volunteers, and updated to the web site periodically. We encourage our volunteers to visit the shelter pets whenever possible to provide them with baths, walks, treats, playtime, affection and whatever support may be needed.