BARCC Adoption Specialist Sarah Santos puts an adopted sticker on a dog’s display card Saturday at a BARCC adoption event at Tesla in Olmito, Texas.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

With only 20 minutes left until the doors open at 1 p.m., a line of over 30 people restlessly stirs as they take turns to peer through the windows to look over the 15 dogs up for adoption at the Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center’s adoption event Saturday at the Tesla store in Olmito. 

The center tries to hold an adoption event every month and so when a Tesla employee reached out to them to offer up the venue, according to Sarah Santos, adoption specialist at BARCC, they leapt at the chance. 

While a Tesla store might seem like an unusual place to hold a pet adoption event, the venue has drawn a large amount of public notice on social media since BARCC made their initial post. 

“You should have seen the amount of feedback I got when I posted the original post. I think it got over 350 shares on Facebook. People were sharing it all over the place,” she said.

People waiting to see the dogs for adoption look in through the window Saturday at a BARCC adoption event at Tesla in Olmito, Texas. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

Before the doors even opened Santos, seeing the crowd, estimated that the event’s original timespan from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. might be unnecessary. Forty-five minutes after opening the doors, 14 of the 15 dogs had been adopted out. 

Seeing the traffic in his store, manager Bobby Johnson expressed amazement at the turnout and hopes that the momentum they’ve built with the event will continue for the shelter.

“I hope it sustains an excitement for the shelter, not so much just to Tesla, but to taking home these dogs in the Valley. There’s dogs, cats and a lot of animals that need homes so it’s awesome to see so many people here,” he said.

Marcela Espindola saw the post on Facebook and brought her boyfriend Jonathan Osornio with her to wait in line to adopt Bubbles, a bull terrier mix that was featured in BARCC’s post.

Marcela Espindola smiles as she and Jonathan Osornio pick up her new dog Bubbles Saturday at a BARCC adoption event at Tesla in Olmito, Texas.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

After a brief disappointment as Bubbles was potentially being adopted by another person, Espindola triumphed when they picked another dog and she was able to take Bubbles home.

“When they posted the picture of Bubbles it was just him smiling, with his teeth. It was just pure joy even in the conditions he was in, just a super happy dog,” she said.

Bubbles, carried in her boyfriend’s arms like a baby, seems happy at the turn of events and snuggles his head into Osornio’s shoulder as she starts to fill out the paperwork so they can go home. 

For adopters like Espindola, not only did the event allow them to meet a new forever friend, but all the fees were paid for in advance due to a donation by City Commissioner Jessica Tetreau and Car Wash Plus which covered the adoption fee that includes the spay/neuter, vaccinations, deworming, flea and tick prevention, heartworm prevention, city license tag and a microchipping for each pet.

A male boxr mix dog looks up as a potential adopter gives him a head rub Saturday during a BARCC adoption event at Tesla in Olmito, Texas.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

With the BARCC center closed to the public and a shortage of staff, every event staff hold to help some of the animals in their care find homes grows in importance as the pandemic continues to limit their operations.

“With the Delta COVID19 variant going around we have to make accommodations for these guys because it’s not fair to them that they are here at the shelter. So we have to try every single outlet to try and get them out of the shelter,” Santos said.

For more information or to make a donation you can visit the BARCC Facebook page at BTX BARCC or call (956) 544-7351.