Ashland’s dog shelter Bandit’s Adoption and Rescue of K-9’s (BARK) was just announced the winner of Animal Planet’s Pet Nation Renovation contest, snagging $180,000 to renovate their facility.
Ashland’s dog shelter Bandit’s Adoption and Rescue of K-9’s (BARK) was just announced the winner of Animal Planet’s Pet Nation Renovation contest, snagging $180,000 to renovate their facility.
B.A.R.K. is an all volunteer organization on Farrington Road in Ashland that rescues over 300 dogs around the Richmond area every year for over 15 years. The shelter has about 120 to 150 dogs available for adoption at any given time. The shelter was picked out of five finalists vying for the money for an upgraded facility and Claire Tetrick, board member, secretary and volunteer for B.A.R.K. said the staff at the shelter was elated, but surprised at the news.
“We were extremely excited,” Tetrick said. “It was definitely something we entered as sort of a cool idea, but never thought it would happen at the end of the day we were just amazed by all the local support. It’s been quite a ride!”
Tetrick told RVA Mag in March B.A.R.K. planned to upgrade the shelter’s play pen areas, the inside kennels, install central air and heat for the animals, add a new bridge to access the property, install a dedicated quarantine area and an indoor restroom for volunteers.
She added that Animal Planet didn’t reveal what the $180,000 would cover or when they would start work, but mentioned improvements to their kennels and upgrades to their healing and cooling systems are the most needed.
Tune in to Animal Planet in September to see the big renovation reveal. Congratulations to B.A.R.K. on the big win!
