ABOUT TBBR

OUR story

The Barking Billboard Rescue is a registered nonprofit, foster/adoption focused rescue based in the downtown core of Toronto. We raise rescue awareness by showcasing where our beloved rescue cats/dogs come from and why adopting vs. shopping is so important along with stating where potential pet parents can adopt these beloved animals from in southern Ontario.

The Barking Billboard initially launched as an advocacy and fundraising platform to raise rescue awareness and to support our network of reputable rescues. Over the pandemic, the overpopulation of homeless cats/dogs throughout is just one factor determining this expansion.

Our mission to help future pet parents find their forever furry rescue friends has never changed. This too has also grown.

For us-the best way to ensure compatibility with owners and pets, is to set them up for success. We are externally passionate about setting up all of our rescue cats/dogs for the best possible life and we do this through customized nutrition and training plans for all animals within our care.

Our goal has and always will be-to help future pet parents adopt vs. shop, to help our rescue communities in any way possible and to help raise rescue awareness.

GET INVOLVED

What we do

To attain our mission:

Raise awareness

Raising awareness for rescues and homeless animals has been the mission for The Barking Billboard since day one.

Raise funds

All of the funds TBB raises help rescue animals in need of basic necessities, transportation, vetting and outreach programs such as spay/neuter for over populated communities.

Help rescues

We collaborate with our rescue partners in numerous ways. Either it being to showcase where the cats/dogs come from, to offer a potential pet owner local adoptables, or to fundraise and host spay/neuter clinics with our partners in over populated areas.

Help pet parents

We help future pet parents by offering an extensive list of recommend rescues, and our adoption referral program.

We help current pet parents by providing nutrition and training programs.

Foster + Adoption

We pride ourselves on our foster and adoption programs which are thorough and in-depth. Our program provides our fosters and adopters all information needed and more to ensure our cats and dogs are set up for the optimal success while having them in your care.

Outreach

You will often find TBB members collecting life saving supplies to provide on the donators behalf for overpopulated ares of stray roaming dogs. When we are able to, we fund/host specialized clinics such as spay/neuter and vaccines for in-need communities.

dog training

We have partnered with The Dogget Style Training and Petcademy to offer Foster, Adopter and existing pet parents for specialized training programs catered towards specific training needs.

Nutrition

We offer nutrition counselling for all pet parents.

All TBBR foster cats/dogs are on a customized meal plan created to fit their specific lifestyle and nutrition needs.

SUPPORT LOCAL

Supporting small and local businesses is incredibly important for TBBR. We strive to help our local/small rescue partners as much as possible in order to help them achieve their dreams as they do for us by helping provide our rescue animals the basic necessities needed in order for them to have a second chance at life!

MEET THE Board

Registered Nonprofit #

Alex

CEO and Founder

My name is Alex and I am a crazy animal rescue lady who’s been bringing home stray animals since I can remember! When I’m not helping an animal in need, I’m either at my jeweler's bench making something from silver for film/special events, creating a piece of clothing or helping current pet owners through nutrition and specialized foods/supplements.

BC (before COVID) you’d find me independently rescuing dogs while in the Dominican Republic. Over the pandemic, I wasn't able to help the way I was used to. On top of that, hearing most people in my community state they wanted to rescue a dog, but bought instead because they didn’t know where to go… absolutely broke my heart!

During this crazy time, I knew I needed to get creative and help in a whole new way. So I helped launch two local rescues, developed numerous sponsorship programs for over 30 rescues, helped domestic rescues with bran partnerships, intakes, social media content, events, and fundraising. I organized and conducted ethical transports/charters, developed an advocacy apparel line to help spread awareness, and used social media, events, brand partnerships and monthly initiatives to help shed light on the reality of rescue and to help raise funds and awareness for rescues and animals in need around the globe.

Nastasia

COO

My name is Nastasia and I am a poet, writer, actor, filmmaker, musician, clown, graphic designer, activist, content creator, playwright, lover of smoked gouda and skincare-enthusiast based in Toronto, Canada. Some might say "if she had any more hats, the weight of them would break her neck."

But what overrides all of the hats is my love of dogs. This started with a neighbour’s golden retriever named Sunny. Since we met, I was hooked and had to have some dog love in my life on a more full time basis.

This is when I began to foster and volunteer at numerous rescues and eventually adopted the infamous tiny gremlin dog Odysseus (aka Otis).

I took this as an official sign that I had now fully integrated into the rescue life and can never go back to life as a civilian!

Rachel

Director of Human Resources

My name is Rachel Deadman and I work as a Behaviour Therapist for individuals on the Autism Spectrum. I have a passion for anything dog related and my favourite breed is rescued!

My rescue journey started when I met my first foster pup, a sweet little Chihuahua named Hiccups. Being a part of his journey to his second chance at life was so special to me! After this experience, I immediately knew that rescuing and fostering dogs was something I was meant to do.

My I can’t wait to save more dogs with TBBR team and I look forward to working with our team of volunteers, fosters and adopters!

Our primary focus is to showcase hopeful pet parents that although we may reside in the city, we can rescue dogs here too!

For The Barking Billboard Rescue, here are our 5 W’s:

Who runs the barking billboard?

We are a team of dedicated and die hard rescue advocates who are extremely transparent about our dogs, who we work with and why we do what we do.

Who is eligible to foster?

Those who reside within the GTA are eligible to foster and adopt from our rescue. The reason for this is because we have our vet partner in Toronto if/when vet services are needed for our rescue dogs.

WHAT HAPPENS IF AN OWNER IS NO LONGER ABLE TO CARE FOR THEIR ADOPTED DOG?

The biggest “what” every rescue and breeder should be able to answer is this question. Simply put, we do absolutely everything possible from screening to nutrition and training to ensure we have set our dogs up for the ultimate success with their perfect match. But, if a surrender of one of our dogs were to happen - we have a lifetime commitment for the owner to return their dog to our rescue.

Where do you rescue dogs from?

We work closely with independent and spay/neuter focused rescues who reside in over populated areas with at risk roaming dogs in Northern Canada, Dominican Republic, Southern Texas, California and Mexico.

When do you rescue these dogs?

Climate is a major factor for our rescue dogs and when we are able to intake. The summer and winter months in Northern Canada are deadly, so you will often find northern Canadian dogs in our care during these months. Spring and fall, we help depopulate dogs from the Dominican Republic and Mexico City.

WHY DO YOU RESCUE DOGS INTERNATIONALLY WHEN CANADA ALREADY HAS SO MANY DOGS NEEDING HOMES?

We’re named The Barking Billboard for a reason-to spill the true tea. So here it is:

Dogs tend to have personality traits and appearances that are created from different parts of the world. It is our mission and our goal to help future pet parents find their forever furry RESCUE friend. To explain a little more in depth what we mean, please continue reading.

EXAMPLE 1: A hopeful owner of a chihuahua will likely receive their rescue dog from California, Southern Texas, Mexico or the Dominican Republic, so we work with our partners in these areas to help a hopeful pet parent rescue instead of going to a breeder.

EXAMPLE 2: A hopeful owner of a Husky will likely receive their rescue dog from Northern Canada.

EXAMPLE 3: A hopeful owner of a doodle will likely receive their rescue dog from an Ontario surrender and/or a puppy mill bust.

EXAMPLE 4: A hopeful owner of a puppy will likely receive their rescue dog from Northern Canada as the import rules have drastically changed over the pandemic.

At the end of the day-It is our ultimate goal and mission to help people adopt vs. shop! But our hearts lay with first and foremost with our Northern Canadian dogs.

Why the Dominican Republic?

Simply put-The founder of TBB Alex, began her rescue journey by being an independent rescuer in the Dominican Republic. She understands first hand how little support is given for the community members who do their best to help animals who have been poisoned, mistreated and roaming around on dangerous roads. Monetary income is scarce in the communities to help on a level which is needed, so you will often find her bringing supplies and hosting specialized clinics to help the homeless strays and owned animals that would normally never have the opportunity.

Why Mexico?

Mexico is the most over populated country in the world when it comes to stray dogs. Again, monetary income is scarce in the communities to help on a level which is needed, so you will often find her bringing supplies and hosting specialized clinics to help the homeless strays and owned animals that would normally never have the opportunity.

Why northern canada?

There are WAY too many reasons why we absolutely MUST help these dogs! The communities within northern Canada suffer immensely due to the lack of awareness and funds to help depopulate the overpopulation of stray, roaming dogs. The climate and lack of spay/neuter affect these animals in a tremendous manner including dog fights and attacks on humans including children. To depopulate in this section of the world, dog culls are often conducted to protect the residing community members. Some of the dogs are owned, some of them are stray. Our northern rescue partners are only able to help the communities with the support of fosters and adopters residing in the GTA and the West coast of BC.

Why southern Texas?

Being extremely close to the border of Mexico, Southern Texas wins the most overpopulated state of roaming stray dogs. On top of that, high-kill shelters are overloaded with daily intakes with only a couple of days for the dog to be claimed before euthanasia.

Why California?

Being 100% transparent, this is the highest kill shelter rate in all of the United States. TBB board members are all owners of little dogs and it has made each of us physically sick seeing dogs who look like ours on the “to be killed” list. We have to do something!

how we do what we do?

It is extremely important for us to showcase how our beloved rescue dogs enter our care and where they come from and where potential pet parents can adopt them from in southern Ontario. That said-we work collaboratively with our rescue network who share the same goal: to help future pet parents find their forever furry friend. You will often find TBBR working with other Southern Ontario rescues who focus on adoptions through transports and events to raise awareness about rescue and adoptables.

More about the barking billboard

1.

The Barking Billboard initially launched as an advocacy platform to raise rescue awareness and to support our network of reputable rescues.

Over the pandemic, the overpopulation of homeless dogs throughout the world encouraged us to form an adoption focused expansion.

Our mission has and always will be to help future pet parents find their forever furry RESCUE friends. For us-the best way to ensure compatibility with owners and pets, is to set them up for success.

2.

For us-the best way to ensure compatibility with owners and pets, is to set them up for success. We are externally passionate about setting up all of our rescue dogs for the best possible life starting with fostering first! If you have never fostered before, our foster training program is extensive, thorough and you’ll come out as a pro by the time you’ve completed your training and have the dog in your care.

We strive to build a humane and compassionate community to strengthen the human/animal bond. We provide each of our rescue dogs with customized meal plans and a training package for all of our foster parents to follow.

3.

We NEVER provide the option to adopt any of our rescue dogs without meeting them first and offer a foster to adopt program for those who are hopeful pet parents of a particular dog.

ALL of our rescue dogs live with a foster family until we are able to understand their behaviours, health and personality in order to match them up with their perfect, loving, forever homes.

We are a NO PRESSURE rescue, meaning we understand dogs take time to settle in. You also need time to see if the dog is truly “your dog”. Our foster to adopt 3 week program enables us to provide this time needed for hopeful pet parents.

4.

We provide all veterinary care for our rescue dogs, as well as behaviour modification when necessary. Only a portion of these expenses are covered by our adoption fees. The remaining expenses are covered by our compassionate team of volunteers and public donations.

The Barking Billboard Rescue is run by a team of dedicated volunteers who generously donate their time to help not only our rescue dogs, but our rescue network and communities in need.

For the most up to date information about our rescue, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages!

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