Bark It Up Inc.
Our Vision
Creating a Canine Collective
We are a verified 501c3 nonprofit charity helping pets and pets owners in times of need. We know there are many roads to rescue and our prevention pathways are designed to help good dogs stay in good homes through a holistic approach to rescue work. We help existing pet families stay together, mitigate burdens on local shelters, aid other rescue organizations, and assist with rehoming efforts. In honor of our foundation dog Junior, we also work with local shelter dogs to help them prepare for adoptive life as part of our Junior League program, which provides enrichment and socialization opportunities outside of the shelter environment.
Our Origin Story
Our story began with Junior, a 63 pound, staffy mixed-breed dog who showed poorly in the shelter. Considered a “behavioral case,” Junior spent significant time in isolation due to his stress level. When Junior finally made it to the adoption floor, he showed symptoms of kennel stress, barking incessantly, frequently jumping up, and displaying hard mouthiness with staff during handling. Due to his behavior issues, Junior was removed from the adoption floor but, thankfully, placed into foster care with our founder. She arranged for a canine behavioral assessment - which Junior passed with flying colors - and provided Junior with structured foster care and socialization. But as Junior blossomed into a friendly, loving and playful pet, we watched as rescue organizations closed their doors due to a lack of funding and available fosters and we witnessed shelters limit their intake process due to overpopulation. We knew that we needed to find a different and responsible way to help Junior and other shelter dogs like him.
While fostering Junior, our founder received a request to help someone rehome a recently adopted shelter dog named Venus. Adopted by a good and loving person, Venus needed a home with a fenced yard and canine companion (which she didn't have with her adopter). After Venus spent one month living with Junior, running freely every day, our founder helped her owner find Venus a new and better fit of a home.
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During her many years of fostering special-need and medical-need dogs, our founder also recognized the financial and resource limitations faced by many shelters and rescues and, consequently, found ways to privately pay for supplemental health care for her foster dogs. In fact, her last hospice dog was able to live comfortably longer thanks to holistic veterinary care which supplemented the shelter's traditional clinic care.
All these experiences and many more working with shelters and rescues led us to form BARK IT UP, Inc. Our mission is simple, to help dogs STAY off the streets, out of shelters, and in good homes. We base our efforts upon a shared holistic philosophy that fits our capacity and meets our ethical standards of care. By mitigating burdens on existing shelters and rescue organizations and coming to the aid of pet owners in times of need, we can address some of the root causes of pet homelessness in the first place.