Our Town: BARCS

Bailey Deacon ’10 leads the organization’s fundraising, volunteers, social media and community relations.

In college, Bailey Deacon ’10 majored in art—and had four dogs. Now, the director of community engagement at BARCS, the largest animal shelter in Maryland, is down to three—and two cats. “When you get into animal rescue, you start to fall for some of the misfits, and I’m a total sucker for those.” Deacon leads the organization’s fundraising, volunteers, social media, community relations—pretty much everything that’s not direct animal care. More than 10,000 animals a year come through the shelter, which, as an open-admission facility, takes all comers. In addition to dogs and cats, it’s housed everything from pigs to alligators. All get the same care. “We treat every animal like they’re an individual.”

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