Senior Project: "Here No More"

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

— Mahatma Ghandi

Each and every day thousands of animals are brought into shelters across the country. A total of around 8 million are brought in per year. Many are strays and many others are simply dumped off by their families — on the side of the road, under a bridge, or tied outside of shelters to fend for themselves until workers arrive the next morning. One of the main reasons shelters are so full is pet overpopulation. Thirty-five percent of pet owners still refuse to spay and neuter their pets. When a beloved family pet becomes pregnant, they simply give it away. Maybe they decide to keep a puppy until it reaches the point when it’s no longer “cute,” and then let it go unaltered. That dog gets pregnant and so on and so on. When these dogs arrive at the shelter they are usually greeted by the raucous din of all the other residents who are eagerly awaiting their owners, whom they are sure will be walking through the door any minute. Sadly, this only happens for about 1 in 10 who come through the door. This kind of neglect is common in both rural and urban areas and also crosses socio-economic boundaries. The most common victims in dog cruelty cases are pit bull terriers. They represent thirty-three percent of dogs taken in at shelters. In some regions, that number climbs to sixty-five percent. Tragically, the end of the road for many of these dogs is euthanasia. This is an homage to those we’ve recently lost.

About 2.7 million healthy, adoptable cats and dogs—about one every 11 seconds—are put down in U.S. shelters each year.

(the humane society)

The newest form of abuse is called hog-dog fighting or “catch dog trials”. Dogs chase trapped hogs in front of spectators. Players rank the dogs by how quickly they bite into a hog’s face and pull the screaming animal down. Dogs often injure the hogs horribly during the match, and the hogs may gore the dogs with their tusks.

Hog-dog fighting is most popular in the rural South. Ironically, it may be billed as family entertainment, but it is as violent as dogfighting and can similarly teach children to enjoy cruelty.

Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes average about 33% of shelter intakes nationally, but in large cities the numbers are as high as 40%-65%. About 75% of municipal shelters euthanize Pit Bulls immediately upon intake, without them ever having any chance at adoption. Those that are offered for adoption are usually the first chosen for euthanasia when overcrowding forces the shelter's hand and decisions have to be made.

Studies estimate that up to 1 million Pits are euthanized per year, or 2,800 per day. Some estimates are up to double that number. In the Los Angeles area alone, 200 per day are put to sleep. A study by the organization Animal People reports a 93% euthanasia rate for Pit Bulls and only 1 in 600 Pits finding a forever home.

Further, euthanasia estimates don't include the misery and death Pit Bulls face as the #1 dog-fighting breed. Fought dogs that don't die in the ring often suffer excruciating abuse, neglect, abandonment, and eventually death even worse than humane euthanasia.

Until we can educate the public and move them to spay and neuter, we're just putting a band-aid on a gushing wound. One female dog can produce two litters of 6-10 pups per year. In 6 years that female and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs!

Shelters are overwhelmed with dogs who demand space and funds for their care and medical treatment and something's got to give. It's the animals, very often Pit Bulls, and what they give is their very lives.

900

                                                                              900

Each year some 30 million puppies and kittens are born in the United States. It is estimated that 1 out of 10 of these animals born will find a permanent home. The rest will live on the streets until they either starve to death, get picked up by local dog warden deputies, end up in dog fighting rings, puppy mills, or other abusive and cruel situations. Most are thrown out like trash. Mandatory spaying and neutering laws could help to curb these problems tremendously. Only ten percent of shelter intakes are already spayed or neutered. Too many healthy, adoptable animals are euthanized each year in shelters while puppy mills and backyard breeders are turning high profits. The Mahoning County Pound took in over 900 dogs in 2012, these are some of their faces.

                                                                                                       

Appropriated Dog Owners Guide

Chine Colle and Photo Transfer Process

Dog Toys

Lost & Found

 

 “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” –                                     Martin Luther King, Jr.

The number of animal cruelty cases reported on in the daily news pales in comparison to the actual number that are never reported. Most abuse and suffering goes on unrecognized. It is common in both rural and urban areas and also crosses socio- economic boundaries. The most common victims in dog cruelty cases are pit bull terriers. Thirty-three percent of dogs taken in at shelters in the United States are Pit Bull Terriers. In some regions, that number climbs to sixty-five percent. The Mahoning County Pound currently houses fifty seven dogs. Seventeen are pit bulls.

It seems today that any dog with the label pit bull lives in a dark shadow. A shadow that has been unfairly cast upon them since the early 80’s. Some cities have even gone as far as banning the breed completely. Media portrayal and the glorification of violent dog attacks with no backstory on the individual dogs, has helped to fuel these fires in recent years. Pit bulls and any breed resembling them are being put down in alarming numbers across the country on a daily basis. In most cases, for no other reason than human fear. Most of these animals are doomed from birth. They are malnourished, neglected, chained out year round, fought, overbred, under socialized, and fighting for their lives. This is a human problem. Any breed of dog subjected to these conditions brought on directly by their owners would react with the same aggression.

A breed that was once used as the mascot for such products as RCA, Buster Brown, Wells Fargo, and featured as a main character in the popular television show The Little Rascals in the 1920’s is now the dog that drug dealers like to flaunt and Americans love to hate.

While volunteering at the Mahoning County pound over the last eight months, I have borne witness to the result of countless acts of violence and neglect shown to man’s so-called ‘best friends,’ especially, it seems, to the pit bull breed. After spending ten to fifteen hours a week with some of these dogs, I started documenting their new living quarters. I felt compelled to venture out into the neighborhoods to the specific locations where these animals were found by the dog warden’s deputies. Most of these dogs were severely abused in some way by a human and each one of them still held on to some bit of trust toward us. I bonded with each and every one of these dogs in a different way. I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to spend time with these subjects. My hope was to monumentalize in a way each dog’s character and resilience in portrait form.   

Photo Date #5

Amalie