WKU offers many different ways to get involved in your community, and volunteering at the Humane Society is just one of the many. I have volunteered there before and I really enjoyed it so I knew this would be the perfect topic for me to do my photo essay on. I am very passionate about dogs, especially the ones that do not have homes. A goal of mine is to show that even an hour of volunteering can make a difference. You do not have to volunteer all day, but just give a little bit of your time. I walked almost 10 dogs in an hour. That hour made a difference. I did not volunteer all day but I still accomplished what I wanted to. I showed the dogs love and happiness.
The types of photos I took are pictures of the dogs I walked running around and playing, being loved on, and showing love. I took pictures of some absolutely wonderful dogs and I know my photos will portray that. I also took pictures of some dogs in their cages to show the small area they have to live in everyday.
The specific information I gathered from the Bowling Green Warren County Humane Society is information about the dogs I walked. I got their name, age, breed, if they had been sponsored and if they had been adopted. I also got information about how many volunteers they get each day, which is approximately 6-10. I learned how much the adoption of a dog costs. It is $75 and that includes their shots, neutering and spaying, and one check up. In one case I saw someone pay $25 of the adoption fee for a dog lowering the price to $50. This could make it easier for someone with less money to adopt the dog. The Humane Society also allows you to sponsor a dog. You give a certain amount of money and they get nicer things, such as a nice bed. You can also offer to help pay for their surgeries if needed. Out of about 20 dogs I saw, only 3 or 4 were sponsored. This made me very sad and I hope that this photo essay will persuade some of you to sponsor an animal. It's $30 and it makes a difference!
As you can see, I am very passionate about the dogs at the Humane Society and homeless dogs in general. I hope that the pictures you are about to see will make you want to take action and volunteer at your local Humane Society. Just take an hour out of your day and it will make a huge difference in the dogs' lives.
This little guy greeted us when we came into the Humane Society building. It looks like he's mad and about to bite, but he's actually smiling! In this picture he is asking to be petted. Every time he got attention from us he would show his teeth and smile. I've never seen anything like it!
As I first walked through where they keep all the dogs, I saw this girl. Her name is Sunflower. She is in her cage, desperately wanting to be taken out. The dog she shares her cage with has been adopted, but she hasn't. This picture just shows you how badly these dogs want to be loved.
I continued my walk throughout the room and came upon this dog. She got very excited and wouldn't stop licking me as I stood in front of her cage, so I took her out. This is the first dog I walked and her name is Chloe. She's a young boxer and is very playful. She has actually been sponsored but still needs a home! As you can see she's very loving, and I got her to calm down long enough to take a picture with me.
As I took Chloe back inside I saw this little guy. I knew as soon as I saw him that I just had to take him out next. So here I am holding one of my favorite dogs there, Ryker. He's a toy poodle that they estimate to be around 10 years old. He actually just got adopted and is going home soon! He's a real sweetheart.
Walking through the room with the cages and reading the descriptions of the dogs, I decided to take these two out. They've been through a lot and deserve a lot of love. These are two of the sweetest dogs you'll ever meet, Buddy and Sissy. Buddy (on the left) is completely blind and relies on Sissy for everything. They estimate Buddy to be about 6 years old and Sissy to be 3. If you want to adopt one of them you must adopt both of them! They're a package deal.
As I was playing with Buddy and Sissy these two dogs came running along the fence. They wouldn't stop staring at me and I realized they were dying to be loved, just like I was loving on Buddy and Sissy.
After I returned Buddy and Sissy to their cage I spotted Frogger. He was very hyper and excited, so I decided to take him out next. In my opinion, he's one of the most beautiful dogs there and he's a real sweetheart. He's still very young and needs a good home!
After walking Frogger I made my way to the other building where they put the recent intakes. This is a puppy that was climbing his cage and crying. He wanted out so bad, but we weren't aloud to get him out yet. It killed me to see him so sad.
This dog was inside the second building. I specifically asked to see her because I had seen her online. Her name is Lolita and she is a toy poodle. She was in a tiny cage, so I opened it up and petted her. This is me loving on Lolita. I absolutely fell in love with this dog, but she is now being adopted.
Also in the same room as Lolita was this toy poodle. It did not say her name but I got her out as well and she was so sweet. As I got her out, the other dogs in the room got sad and started scratching to get out. There was approximately 6 dogs in the room, all in small cages. I did my best to love on each of them but they need more than just a few minutes of petting.
This is me doing my best to love on this little girl. I took her out of her cage and held her for a minute. I absolutely fell in love with her and wanted to adopt her, but I already have two toy poodles. I sure hope she finds a good home soon.
This is Snickers. He is another one of the dogs in the room with the previous two. He is one of the cutest dogs I've ever seen, but as you can see he is very unhappy in his cage. He is looking at me begging to be taken out and loved.
I had a wonderful time volunteering at the Humane Society. I only stayed about an hour but I felt like it made a difference. However, I would have stayed longer but I had started to break out in hives. I must have been allergic to something. It was worth it though to love on these homeless dogs that are secluded in cages every day. I strongly urge you to take action in your community and volunteer somewhere. I enjoyed volunteering at the Humane Society, but if you don't think it is for you consider volunteering somewhere else. I hope that these pictures made you see how easy it is to take action and make a change in your community.
The purpose is clear . You are focusing on how wku students can do good works at the humane society. I cannot think of a way to improve your beginning middle and end they flow together so well.I love seeing the different types of dogs they are so cute.The captions give a briefe descritpion maybe add a little more detail but keep up the great work. I was suprised to see the number of different dogs they are adorable . Go into a little bit more detail on what your doing and why its important.The pictures were very effective and very heart warming . There really were no really noneffective parts.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job with a great purpose. You show how animals do get miss treated and they all need to be treated for better then they are. just make sure you add little better details and you should be good to go.
ReplyDeleteNice work, Caroline.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the level of engagement that these photos show and how it genuinely seems that you enjoyed this volunteer work.
I would have to say your purpose is to persuade people of how they can help the animals at the shelter. You can probably do a bit more to not only tell people how easy it is to volunteer (as you did), but other ways they can contribute. And, more importantly, how they can give these animals the homes that they need.
Perhaps a bit more "data" from the shelter would be useful--maybe information on how many animals they typically have, how long animals typically stay before a home is found, and how they are helping with stray populations (spay/neuter operations, etc.)
I also think you might consider a bit more of a narrative arc to the photos. I like all of the photos, but I think the beginning and end could be more distinct. Perhaps a photo of the shelter itself would be a good establishing shot? I do like that these photos express a level of community engagement--that is essential to your project.
Good work so far. Keep going.