Want to adopt the dog in the top photo?
A terrified dog walks into a rescue shelter. He's dirty, disoriented and unsure of what's about to happen. A person he doesn't know stands over him with a camera, snaps a photo and posts it on an adoption website. Most likely, no one will call about him...Here's the "after photo of the same dog:
A year ago, Baker's team and photographer Seth Casteel decided they needed to put an end to "that one photo." So they created an initiative called One Picture Saves a Life, to provide shelters with resources to properly groom and photograph shelter pets.
"We've had cases where a pet has been up for adoption for months and then adopted within 12 hours of [the new photo] being posted," Horton told HuffPost.Additional details and paired before-and-after photos at the link.
I noticed that most of the dogs in the article were pit bulls and, while I pity them, I believe that a lot of cities and states have banned ownership of the breed due to their reputation for aggression. A few have actually attacked and killed people.
ReplyDeleteWhile I applaud the efforts of the group to encourage pet adoption, I think people should be careful in choosing a pet, particularly if there are small children in the household.
And toy dogs are agressive as **** too. Should we ban them too?
DeleteYou raise ANY dog to fight they're going to be agressive. That's the point of dog fighting after all...
Before all the hype (and some of the truth) about Pit Bulls they were actually known as Nanny Dogs in the British Isles. I know that many would say that St. Bernard's are but to keep the children safe the British would use Pits as guard dogs of the family. Many a story would come of Pits carrying home young charges when they would wander off. It's all in the raising. All dogs see us as a pack, The larger the group of friends you have the large the pack and friendlier your dog will be.
ReplyDeleteI'd adopt him. I'm a sucker for dogs, especially rescue dogs. I think they appreciate their owners more.
ReplyDeleteI know that there have been trainings at animal shelter conferences specifically about pictures. There are also studies about putting bandana's on dogs and black dogs closer to the entrance so they get noticed.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I think the "before" photo would entice me more. Am I weird?
ReplyDeleteLurker111