Baltimore Orioles' Cole Irvin pitches in to help animal rescue shelter during "crisis mode"

BALTIMORE - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Cole Irvin delivers for the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS).   

Pitcher Cole Irvin signed autographs on Thursday for anyone who came to the shelter with items from its list or those who made a donation.

Irvin even signed adoption certificates.

"Me and my wife thought it was a good opportunity to step in, help the community, help BARCS," Irvin said.

BARCS already had more than 150 dogs in its care last week when authorities seized 83 dogs and a cat from a Northwest Baltimore rowhome in an animal hoarding case.

BARCS officials say they were housed together in small crates, stacked on top of one other, in filthy and unhealthy conditions.

They were brought to the animal shelter to triage their medical care.

"The conditions were terrible in the house," said Bailey Deacon, BARCS Director of Philanthropy and Communications. "The animals weren't living like pets, not like the dogs and cats we have in our homes. It was a horror show."

The seizure of so many dogs have created an urgent need for fosters, adopters and donations.

About 30 of those dogs rescued have been adopted and 40 more are in the care of fosters, many of them are nursing and puppies.

"I'd say we were in crisis mode for the last two years, but this last week has really pushed our supplies, our donations, our funding to the brink," Deacon said.

Irvin, last week, dropped off supplies from the shelter's wish list.

Care costs are already piling up for the hoarding case alone in addition to the shelter's normal operations.

"When we get these hoarding cases and these animals that have extra needs because they just haven't had their needs met, they can cost us way more, upwards of a thousand dollars an animal," Deacon said.

Another 13 dogs were rescued recently from a home in Carrollton Ridge and delivered to the animal shelter.

"What's been overwhelming to us is, we were already out of space and we took in about 300 animals in the last week," Deacon said.       

Irvin is one of several Orioles pitchers helping out BARCS, including Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer.

"From a ballplayer's perspective, from the Orioles perspective, for us to be able to partner with such a great team, a great organization, they made this process seamless," Irvin said. "They had this set up in three days."

All new BARCS foster parents will be entered into a raffle for a VIP Oriole Park game experience.

However, the biggest prize is being able to help out BARCS at its time of need.

Click this link to learn about BARCS and how you can help.