Alive Rescue

I’ve gone to a couple animal shelters recently to try some new photography styles. Also because the amount of animals that die yearly makes my heart hurt (30 million from cruelty, neglect, and exploitation). I want to use my voice to help educate people on why you should #AdoptNotShop & neuter/spay your animal when you get one.

At this particular shelter, Alive Rescue, there were some pitbulls there that just made me want to cry (abuse, neglect and abandonment issues). Pitbulls have tons of misinformation surrounding them which causes their position in the world to be a lot harder than other types of dogs. Here is some pertinent information:

MYTH: Pit Bulls are vicious to people or more dangerous than other dogs.

FACT: There is no room for human aggression in a behaviorally sound pitbull. A pitbull poses no more of a threat to people than any other large dog. The American Temperament Test shows that Pit Bulls consistently score above the average for all breeds tested over the years. As of December 2007, American Pit Bull Terriers had a pass rate of 84.3 percent compared to a pass rate for all breeds tested of 81.6 percent.

MYTH: Pit Bulls have locking jaws.

FACT: No! In proportion to their size, their jaw structure is no different than that of any other breed of dog. There is absolutely no evidence for the existence of any kind of ‘locking mechanism’ unique to the structure of the jaw and/or teeth of the American Pit Bull Terrier.

Part of the problem is sadly; the pitbull, more than any other breed in history, is continuously made a villain through media hypes and irresponsible ownership.

In March 2000, the ASPCA asked representative U.S. shelters about their experiences with pit bulls. Thirty-five percent of shelters take in at least one pit bull a day, and in one out of four shelters, pits and pit mixes make up more than 20 percent of the shelter dog population. New York, Chicago, Boston, Phoenix and Honolulu each saw 3,000 to 7,500 pits turned in during the previous year. One shelter staffer recounted hundreds of abuse cases that came through their doors — pit bulls that had been burned, beaten, starved, neglected and used for dogfighting.

According to the shelters surveyed in 2000, a third did not adopt pit bulls out — some because it is against the law to have these dogs in their communities, and others because of concern about where the dogs will ultimately end up. Sadly, in these cases, the dogs are euthanized.

Alive Rescue has multiple pits available for adoption along with other lovely doggies & kitties. Just remember, #AdoptDontShop & make sure to sterilize your animal because it can prolong their life, and helps to prevent the overpopulation problem which causes millions of animals to become homeless/euthanized.

Red Door Animal Shelter

I recently decided to go into a couple animal shelters to document what's there. As an exercise and also because I feel very strongly about the amount of animals out there that don't have homes. These photos were taken at Red Door Animal Shelter where they have a ton of adorable cats & bunnies for you to take to their forever homes. 

I did not adopt my animal and feel incredibly bad about it. I was young and uneducated about the statistics and reasons why you should fix your animals. Here are some stats on why you should Adopt Not Shop & sterilize your animals when you get them.  Pet overpopulation is a huge problem. 

• Number of animals in the U.S. that die each year from cruelty, neglect, and exploitation: 30 million
• Number of animal shelters in the U.S.: 4,000 – 6,000
• Number of cats and dogs euthanized by U.S. shelters each year: 3 – 4 million (nearly 10,000 animals killed every day)

I know baby animals are cute but there are many at shelters that have them, you just need to put some extra work into finding one. 

Note: A good resource to use is PetFinder.com, the only postings that are allowed on there are from shelters. No breeders or pet stores. You can search by breed, age gender etc.