Dog Adoption and Welfare Group: Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

This grant provided us with invaluable experience interacting with professional photographer Seth Casteel and learning to take positive photos with professional equipment.

Marketing is always a challenge to get dogs out of our doors and into fabulous homes. This experience and equipment is allowing us to shed new positive light on not only our own shelter dogs, but the shelter dog as an institution. The positive photos are able to draw more members of the public into shelters where they are typically afraid. By providing a positive image of the shelter dog, more dogs are getting adopted into homes.

How many pets did this grant help?

Immeasurable! At least 7 so far, but likely hundreds we didn't even know about.

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Chalkie, an 8 month old west highland terrier mix was shy and withdrawn in the shelter, and was scared of the camera and was photographed without looking at the camera. With training from this program, as well as the equipment, our volunteer learned to get closer to the animal in order to reduce stress and take a beautiful photo focusing on his facial features. He was recently adopted by a family who was attracted to his photo “because of his beautiful and soulful eyes” which otherwise would not have been captured.