The Barn on Baseline Road, an animal shelter and adoption center near Genoa, had a busy 2020 despite the Covid pandemic according to volunteer Julie Curry who spoke at this week’s Rotary meeting. They had 357 adoptions in 2019 but that zoomed up to 510 in 2020 as people sought cats and dogs for companionship. The number of animals being cared for has been increasing as well, including the recent birth of 50 kittens who will be ready for adoption in about two weeks. Curry said that as Covid restrictions in the workplace are loosening, some pets are coming back to the center as owners find the animals cannot cope with their long absence from home. Another challenge faced by the shelter during Covid was access to affordable veterinary care with volunteers needing to drive several hours sometimes to find the services needed at a reasonable cost.
The Barn opened in 1975 and, as its name implies, it is still operated out of a barn, although the original structure has undergone renovations and expansions. There is an adjoining pet services facility that provides training, boarding, grooming and day care. Volunteers are needed daily between 9:30 AM and 2:30 PM for dog-walking and kitten socializing according to Curry.
Curry said fundraising is always an ongoing need. They hold regular raffles through their Facebook page and gladly accept items or services to be raffled. Profits from the raffles can sometimes be in the $200 to $300 range. They also collect aluminum cans and other like products for scrap recycling sales. Sycamore Rotary collected $370 as a donation from the Wednesday meeting.
For more information on The Barn on Baseline Road, visit their web site at www.thebarnonbaseline.org, call the shelter at (815) 784-5924, or find out about pet services by calling (815) 784-5923.