By Christian Guerithault ’14
THE ROUNDUP

Mason Swierenga ’14started the Brophy Animal Rescue Klub this year, or BARK for short, to have students work together to try to give homeless dogs a safe place to live.

“It’s mainly for helping dogs who are homeless and who are in shelters,” said club moderator Mr. Noah Lewkowitz ’98. “We want to raise awareness and raise actual money so that all these dogs can find a home.”

Mr. Lewkowitz said the issue of homeless dogs is prominent in Arizona.

“Arizona puts down thousands of dogs every year; we want to try to limit that as best we can,” Mr. Lewkowitz said.

The club is trying to get involved outside of the Brophy community.

“We’re trying to get some fundraising going on to help support no kill animal shelters,” Swierenga said. “We’re hoping to expand our role in the animal world of Phoenix through volunteering at shelters.”

The club meets on Monday’s during lunch in Mr. Lewkowitz’s room, E201, to discuss what the club plans on doing.

“We’re trying to do a dog walk in November and we’re trying to work at volunteering at a rescue shelter this month (October),” Mr. Lewkowitz said.

Swierenga said that the BARK dog walk will be held Nov. 9.

This being the first year, Swierenga said he has hopes for the future of the club.

“My hope for the club in the short term is to get people more engaged with animals,” Swierenga said. “We’d like to do everything we can to help give dogs who are in unfortunate scenarios an opportunity to find a home.”

Swierenga said BARK is working on a collaboration with Brophy Literary and Arts Magazine where BARK would host a contest that allows students to submit original photography of their own dog to be included in a Brophy dog calendar sponsored by BARK.