BARC Shelter

BARC is the kind of rescue you only find in cities. It sits on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, in a corner of Brooklyn that has been thoroughly gentrified around it without the shelter itself changing very much. It opened in 1987, originally as a refuge for the strays that the city's animal control couldn't or wouldn't place. Almost forty years later, it is still doing the same thing, with a volunteer staff that does most of the work and a tight budget that runs almost entirely on donations and adoption fees.

It is a small operation by shelter standards — usually fewer than a hundred animals at any given moment — but for a city the size of New York that smallness is the point. BARC takes the dogs that bigger shelters either can't take or would have euthanized. Many of them have been on the street for months. Some of them have medical issues. A handful of them are repeat returns from adopters who couldn't make it work. BARC does not turn them away, and the placement rate is real.

What it's like

If you have ever visited BARC, you know that it is not glossy. It runs in a converted warehouse, the air is loud with dogs, and the volunteers are usually in their second consecutive long shift. The dogs are not in glass enclosures with mood lighting. They are in kennels, on concrete, and the place smells like a place that has held dogs for almost forty years.

It is also one of the warmest rescue environments in New York. The volunteers know every dog by name, by tendency, and by quirk. They will sit with you for an hour to figure out whether a particular dog is right for your apartment. The intake interview is honest in a way that some larger organizations have moved away from — they will tell you what is hard about a dog before they tell you what is sweet — and the result is adoptions that stick.

How they work

BARC adopts through a process that has not been over-engineered. You can visit during posted public hours (currently Saturday afternoons, with weekday meet-and-greets by appointment), fill out an application, and if a particular dog is right for your situation, you can usually take them home the same day.

The shelter is no-kill. Animals are kept as long as it takes to find a home, even when that home takes months to materialize. A handful of dogs have been at BARC for over a year.

Beyond adoptions, BARC runs:

• A low-cost vaccination and microchip clinic, open monthly to community members
• A trap-neuter-return program for the feral cats of north Brooklyn, in coordination with the ASPCA's Mobile Spay/Neuter program
• A standing volunteer roster of about 200 people; the dog-walking shifts in particular are nearly always full

How to support them:

• Adopt. Their available animals are listed on the BARC website, updated weekly.
• Foster. Particularly for medical-recovery dogs and puppies; the volunteer coordinator handles intake.
• Volunteer. They will train you. Bring patience.
• Donate. A small organization where every dollar reaches the dogs faster than at any larger rescue you could pick.

A note on the photo

The map on our Companion Edition example with the name Luna — the framed poster on the cream wall in our gallery — is a BARC Shelter print. Luna is a real dog. She was adopted from BARC in February 2022 and now lives in a flat off Bedford Avenue with two reluctant roommates and a brown sofa she has slowly made her own.

If you adopted a dog from BARC and want the Williamsburg corner where you met set on archival paper, the Companion Edition is what we make for that. 10% of every Companion order returns to a partnering rescue.

Last verified May 29, 2026. Facts about hours, intake policies, and adoption fees can change. Confirm with BARC Shelter directly before visiting.