Photographer and Foster

We always see pictures of shelter/rescue dogs on all sorts of media: websites, social media, etc. and often you see these low quality photos of the animals. I have a hobby (photography) and I wanted to be able to give these animals the best possible chance of inspiring somebody to come meet them. If you can give the animals this opportunity to look their best, you might be able to find their forever family they normally may not have found.

I was the first foster home for a dog Adore-A-Bull Rescue took in named Smokey. He was an abuse case and was 35 pounds when he got to Animal Friends in Butler County. His owner had been reported several times, but nothing came of it. He was found wandering near the Hamilton Airport and then taken to the shelter. A friend of a friend found him and I contacted AABR about him. They worked with AFHS and were able to pull him. He was the sweetest, happy guy who didn’t have a clue what a toy was. He was so weak when we got him, he couldn’t lift his leg on anything, his hind leg couldn’t support the weight of his body. He was literally a skeleton with skin on it. In 2 short weeks, he put on 20 pounds. He’s been adopted for around 2 years now and is probably more of a “velvet hippo” than he should be, but he deserves to have a full belly. His story is one that will bring you to tears and is why we do what we do.

There are SO many dogs and cats in shelters. People need to spay and neuter their pets… kids do NOT need to experience the “circle of life” or the “miracle of life”. It’s horrifying to see just how many sad faces are at the shelters. I would love to be able to take pictures of the intake lines of people there to surrender their pets. The look on the dogs/cats faces as they’re taken away from everything they’ve known. Or the dumpsters behind the shelters where all the bodies of the animals who weren’t chosen. Maybe it would make a difference to somebody willing to give up on their pet.