The New Normal

Barb’s has been operating at a state-of-emergency mode ever since Covid-19 restrictions closed our community last year. We survived the lockdown, a water shortage, a food shortage that continues today, and the replacement of a broken-down van with the help and support of our friends locally and across the border. Running at capacity has become the new normal. It is a delicate balance between the weekly transfer of pups to adoptive shelters across the border and our ability to take-in additional dogs from the local animal control and those brought to us by good Samaritans. Last month on our return from a weekly border trip, we were asked to check on a local man in Mexicali who rescues dogs. His clapboard home was overrun with animals that he fed by selling discarded cans he picked-up along the road. He allowed us to take 41 dogs, many of which were undernourished and in need of medical attention. Upon arrival back at the shelter, we were notified that Animal Control had 37 dogs that would be put down if we could not take them. And just like that, this single day rescue record put us over capacity, needing food and donations for medical supplies and care beyond our abilities. Welcome to the new normal.