Broadway’s Leading Animal Trainer Visits Houston’s BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions to “Discover” Broadway’s Newest Talent

Sunny, once a stray that was taken to BARC, was chosen in a nationwide search to play Sandy on the Broadway show, Annie.

Sunny’s new role was announced live on the Today Show this morning.

Sunny was “discovered” by William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc, Broadway’s leading animal trainer. William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc, is a full service company that finds and provides animals for film, television, print and live performances across North America. Berloni rescued Sunny and three other dogs in desperate situations and trained them for the Broadway show’s audition. After successfully completing an audition in front of the producer and director of Annie, Sunny was chosen to play Sandy, a stray dog that Annie claims as her own when she discovers a dog catcher is after him.

Broadway came to BARC for a great dog with promising talent. BARC encourages all Houstonians to do the same. Hundreds of dogs and cats enter the shelter every week and each one deserves a forever home. Sunny is just one of many animals to be “discovered” at BARC.

“We are just thrilled. We know that we’ve got great pets at BARC, but we didn’t realize we could source talent for Broadway,” said Christopher Newport, BARC’s spokesperson. “This really proves that the animals we have at BARC and other shelter pets aren’t broken, they just had some bad luck in their past.”

“Annie’s Search for Sandy,” a documentary about the nationwide journey to find Broadway’s celebrity pup, will air on NBC October 27.

The simplest, but most powerful thing you can do to help BARC, and pets throughout our community, is to talk to your friends, neighbors, and family about caring for pets responsibly. To donate to BARC online via the Houston BARC Foundation, click here.

We encourage everyone to visit BARC online at www.houstonbarc.com.