Meet the Bark-chelors: Humane Society pits 5 dogs in Valentine’s Day fundraiser
Five long-term canine residents of the Butler County Humane Society shelter will try to win the hearts of the public — and win some funds for the Humane Society — during the Valentine’s Day “Bark-chelor” fundraiser.
Users can “vote” on their favorite dog by donating $5 to send a rose to the dog of their choice. They can also spend up to $25 for as many as five votes, which they can spend all on one dog or spread among all five dogs.
Voting has been open since Jan. 27 and will remain open until Feb. 13. The following day, the winning dog will be crowned in a private ceremony at the Humane Society’s shelter, where the dogs will receive their “roses” — which are actually rose-shaped pupsicles.
“On Valentine’s Day, when we do the rose ceremony, there are going be little pupsicles for them,” said Nikki Healy, marketing assistant at the Humane Society, who came up with the Bark-chelor event. “They’re nice and small, easy to make, and they’re edible.”
The idea for the Bark-chelor came when Healy’s husband reminded her of the upcoming season of the reality series “The Bachelor,” which premiered on Jan. 27.
“I thought, ‘Oh, that would be something cool to do for Valentine's Day, to have a little event,’” Healy said.
The five “contestants” for the Bark-chelor were chosen for a reason: They are the ones that have stayed at the Humane Society longer than the others. They include two bulldogs (9-year-old Mason and 8-year-old Bubba), two pit bulls (2-year-old Cubby and 1-year-old Edgar), and one beagle (1-year-old Nitro).
Three of the dogs have stayed at the Humane Society for over a year. Mason, in particular, has been a resident since December 2022.
“A lot of reason that they’re long term is they have a bit of a ‘stranger danger’ type thing,” Healy said.
This is not the first time that the Butler County Humane Society has hosted a Valentine’s Day event. In 2022, the Humane Society held a Luv is Blind event in which potential adopters made appointments with a “blind date” — a profile for a pet with no picture attached. If they chose to adopt the pet, the adoption fee was waived.
Healy sees the Bark-chelor as more than a fun Valentine’s Day event and a fundraiser for the Humane Society, but a way to possibly move the five dogs out of the shelter and toward a permanent home.
“I definitely think it's a good way to showcase these animals,” Healy said. “We try to advertise our long-term residents a lot, just because they have been here for so long. We want them to go to the home that they're gonna stay in for the rest of their lives, and we don't want them to have to stay here forever.”
