By Matthew Muir | Staff Writer
The Baylor Animal Rescue Klub‘s fall adoption event is bringing dogs to campus with the hope of finding them homes and raising awareness about rescue pets.
BARK’s first-ever on-campus adoption event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday on Fountain Mall and is a partnership event with the Humane Society of Central Texas.
BARK co-president and Austin junior Emmy Frigo said the event’s purpose is twofold: finding homes for dogs and supporting the Humane Society.
“We’re having Mike Gray, who’s the volunteer coordinator at the Humane Society, come greet us at noon with four to five dogs,” Frigo said. “We’re also going to be asking for dog food and blankets for the Humane Society.”
Chatham, Ill., junior Grant Buennemeyer organized the event for BARK. Buennemeyer said volunteers will show off the dogs to give them the best chance of finding a home.
“We’re hoping to have about three to four volunteers throughout the entire event,” Buennemeyer said. “We’re going to try to have each dog be shown outside on a leash with at least one or two volunteers each just so that the dogs can get out and get their legs loosened up and maybe be seen by some people who are looking to adopt some dogs.”
For those looking to adopt a dog, Frigo said the event is likely to help them find a great companion.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to volunteer with animals and get in touch with the Waco community; if you’re not living on campus, then it’s a great opportunity to make a new friend,” Frigo said. “I love rescue dogs; I think they make amazing pets and there are going to be four or five really good ones there.”
Baylor’s Pets on Campus Policy limits what dog breeds are allowed on university property. German shepherds, pit bulls, rottweilers and Doberman pinschers are all banned. Frigo said the Humane Society selected which dogs to bring based in part on these limitations.
“Baylor still does have rules about what dog breeds are allowed on campus, which is something that BARK really wants to change because it says breeds like pit bulls, rottweilers – those kinds of dogs that are considered aggressive breeds – are not allowed on campus, so the Humane Society does have to abide by certain rules,” Frigo said. “[The Humane Society tries] to bring dogs that are either on the urgent list, which means they have been there for a really long time, or dogs that they know are going to do really well in that social setting.”
BARK is a new organization on campus, only operating officially since the start of the semester. Frigo said plans for an adoption event have been in the works since the group’s conceptual stage.
“I’ve spoken to Grant about it starting at the very beginning of the semester… he’s honestly done almost all of the leg work on this, which has been really great,” Frigo said. “We’ve been talking about it since last year… about a month ago was when we really started reaching out to everyone here and to the Humane Society.”
