Do you have room in your family to adopt one of these pets?
Since 2001, Bandit's Adoption and Rescue of K-9s (BARKS) has been a volunteer-run, Richmond-based shelter that has helped hundreds of pets find homes each year. They were even featured on Animal Planet's show, Pet Nation Renovation, back in 2016, where they won a competition to have the facilities re-done, thereby improving the dog kennels, installing a dog park, and more.
However, upkeep with the makeover has taken a downfall, and the cost to keep the shelter running has caught up with owner Bob Tillack. With the recent emergence of shelters in the area, he can't keep up with the competition and wants to focus on medical care for the animals and to assist the other shelters in the area.
Administrators announced on June 4 that the shelter will be closing in December and stopped taking in new animals, as of June 1.
Here is the official announcement:
Courtesy of Bandit's Adoption and Rescue of K-9's
The shelter only has six months to find homes for the 75 dogs taking residence at BARKS, so if you are looking for a pup, take their shelter into consideration. Since they are a nonprofit shelter, their adoption fee is $175 which includes all spay/neuter, vaccines, microchip, and testing for heartworms!
It will be sad to see the dog kennel go, but they have no choice. The kennels are showing signs of degradation, and it will cost Tillack $100,000 to renovate. In addition to the degradation, adoptions have been at an all-time low since the addition of the newer shelters.
If you wish to potentially adopt any of the pets currently available, fill out their online application here! Before you head into the shelter, see all of the available pets on their website!
Have you adopted from BARKS previously? Are you sad to see the place go? Tell us in the comments!