Responsible Pet Ownership

In my opinion along with my experience at the Durham Animal Shelter, I believe that responsible pet ownership is based around being accountable. When one decides they want to own a dog/cat/critter/etc they need to make sure that they are ready. The person needs to  be accountable for their actions. Instead of blindly purchasing an animal because you feel sorry or because it is so cute or because you want to surprise your significant other, one should be prepared. Being a responsible pet owner means that you have the funds to be able to care for the dog in the worst conditions, meaning that if the dog gets sick or happens to eat plastic and needs a minor surgery, one should be able to afford that. Also, I feel that responsible pet ownership also entails ones time. A person shouldn't purchase a pet if they work forty hours a week. It is not fair to the animal to be locked in a house or cage all of the time. Also, one should make sure that they have enough space for the animal. I know a man who owns a Great Dane yet lives in a one-bedroom apartment... that is not fair to the dog that is literally the same height as him when standing on its hind legs.
Shelter Worker, Anonymous: "I believe that responsible pet ownership is treating the animal as if they are becoming part of the family. The new owner needs to be responsible for themselves before they can be responsible for their animal."
Shelter Visitor, Anonymous: "Responsible Pet Ownership means being responsible for the animal under all circumstances. You should treat your animal with respect as if it were a human; it needs to be fed, it needs to go to the 'doctor' for check ups, and it needs love and attention."

This picture is the BEST representation of responsible pet ownership. This image displays the wonderful dog Broady and his amazing owner, Sarah. Sarah adopted Broady after a long time of visits to the animal shelter she volunteered at. She didn't give in on a whim or feel sorry for the dog; over accumulated time her and the dog grew a strong bond and she found out they were made for each other. After well thought out time, she adopted Broad and treats him like a prince. She brings him EVERYWHERE! One day she had to work and I asked her to hang out and her response was "I want to spend time with Broady today because I haven't seen him all day." If she is busy and can't be with the dog she gives him the time he deserves at the end of the day. She constantly takes him to the dog park. Even if she goes out to grab a drink she brings her friend along and makes sure there is out door seating so Broady can be part of the crowd too. She loves this dog so much she even has a tattoo of his exact paw print on her foot.

Owner Surrender

This cat is an owner surrender. It was given up because the owners could not afford to keep the cat anymore.  The apartment complex they reside in charges a large fee to have an animal.

This cat was surrendered because the child in the house was allergic to the cat.

This cat was surrendered because the owners do not have the proper time to care for the cat.

Animal Turnover

I noticed that there is definitely some turn over going on at the animal shelter from this week compared to last. I went into the same catroom as last week and 4 or the cats I had photographed were gone and there were 4 new cats in the room. The number does not surprise me at all, honestly. After receiving the initial information about the amount of cats that are euthanized at the shelter, I expected to see a turn over.

This is sweet Bertha who is still at the shelter this week. Bertha lives in kennel 8. She is a very sweet lab mix that needs lots of love and attention and it is obvious how loyal she is. Unfortunately, she has heart worms and comes across as very shy. Also, she is an older dog which may or may not have an affect on her adoptability. If I was going to adopt a dog I probably would not want a dog that had heart worms. She is so loveable and has the sweetest eyes but I believe she is still at the shelter because she has heart worms. 

Strength and Improvements

This is the photograph that I chose out of my batch of 21 photographs. I think it is a pretty good image but definitely not my favorite because it needs some improving. The cropping cuts off one of the ears and I think that it would be beneficial to not have that ear cropped. I like symettry and it is aesthetically more pleasing to the eye, so with the ear in full it would be a better photograph. Also the image is a bit under exposed. The middle tones are too dark and give off this "middle grey" all-over feel. In regards to that, I think that the whites could be whiter. The whites could really "pop" if they were enhanced. There are qualities of this photo that I do enjoy such as the cat's expression. The animal looks very endearing and focused. Also, I ebjoy the detail in the whiskers because it is such a small aspect of the cat which gives the cat its "cat-like" qualities. It is almost like the "brand" of the animal. With that being said, the fact that the delicate whiskers stand out accentuate that quality of the animal. I also think I did a good job with a crisp focus on the animals face while having the rest of the photograph very "background-like" and blurred, making all of the attention on the face. The third aspect of this photo that I think is good quallity are the eyes. They really pop out and seem to twinkle!

21 pictures!

https://picasaweb.google.com/101721520772711325782/DurhamAnimalShelterWeek1?authkey=Gv1sRgCO3I8J-i1fn_Nw#

Where do all of these animals come from?!

This week volunteering at the animal shelter has lead to a few conclusions and assumptions to where these animals come from. The Durham Animal Shelter has around 10 pigs currently at the shelter. These pigs actually fell off of a carrying truck on their way to be... well... slaughtered. Though this is obviously a rare occurance, it is truthfully how they arrived.

 I think that a lot of the animals that come into the shelter come from families/individuals that could not take care or afford their animal anymore. I also thing that the younger animals come from families/individuals whose animal has not been spayed/neutered and have had a litter. I think these people cannot afford to take care of all of the puppies/kittens/rabbits/etc and bring them to the shelter in hope for finding them a home. I think some of the animals come to the shelter because of outstanding vet bills that a person cannot afford anymore because their animal is sick. I think some of the animals come from individuals who live in apartments and get caught for having their "aggressive" breed and are forced to move or give the dog away, so they end up giving it away. I work at an apartment community and I have seen 2 people in the past 2 weeks give up their animals because they either illegally had the animal there or their animal was not given proper attention and they ended up giving it away. It is sad and unfortunate that there are irresponsible individuals that do not think before they take a dog or cat into their home.

This image is the picture that I am the most proud of. I think I did a good job at really focusing a sharp view on the cat's face while the rest of the body/background is not in focus. I think the viewer's attention goes straight to the cat's face which has a very unique look. I chose this image as one of my best because it accentuates the animals colorful texture and I think it makes it more of an adoptable looking cat since generally people do not adopt darker/black/brindle animals. I also think the catch lights make the cat look very alive and ready to be adopted!

Metadata

After reviewing the multiple sources I would describe metadata as a compilation of information about a photograph. It is data that helps to organize ones images and helps better locate the images. Metadata is information about a photograph that describes multiple characteristics about the photo, whether it is telling you the date and time of the photograph or what the photograph is trying to portray. I feel that metadata is more than helpful for this class. Since this is a 6 week course and each week are taking 21 photos... that is over 100 photos. Also, most of us will have more than that (if we decide to keep the 2nd and 3rd "best choices") and if we are not organized it could be a big headache to find the photo. I think that tags are the best part about metadata because it is used with keywords. For instance, say I wanted to compile all of the black cats, I could type that keyword in and then my files would pull all of the "black cats" that I have to my attention.

I chose this picture because I used an option on my camera that I have not used before. When I was trying to photograph Jeffrey in class, professor Johnstone suggested that I try to focus with my lense on automatic then quickly switch my lense to manual to snap the photo. She suggested this because my camera would try and re-focus everytime the dog moved, causing me to never be able to get a photo. This is what I tried for this picture and I actually enjoy the way it turned out. As the dog sniffed I auto-focused then quickly changed the lense to manual to grab the photo. This image is this dogs first walk of the day. Yesterday, this dog missed out on getting walked so today it was the first one to be walked on the trail.