What my senses experienced in terms of
Smell: litter box, hospital-like, chemicals, cleaning
Sight: cramped, compact, crowded
Sound: loud, startling, and noisy
Upon arrival I was greeted by the lobby cat, Felma. I was then given a tour of the facility. I live on an island so the Outer Banks Animal Shelter is obviously much smaller than the Wake County Animal Shelter. There’s a cat room, filled with metal cages stacked on top of the other. The dog area includes outside kennels connected to inside kennels. Whenever I arrived, the volunteers were cleaning the inside kennels so all the dogs were in the outside kennels. An observation I made was the dogs in the sun were all sleeping, but when one started barking, all the dogs woke up and started barking too. Lesson: it only takes one to excite the bunch.
One of the more difficult experiences was to see this Golden Retriever about mid-sized shaking in fright. He was one of the only dogs not barking and he only started barking whenever I walked away. To me, it was more of a "help me" bark; one that evoked my sympathy and if I were to adopt a dog it would be him. I'll be sure to get a good picture of him next time!
Best Photo of the Day:
This is Felma. I liked this picture because of the color of the cat's whiskers. Felma was very welcoming and loving as soon as I entered the Animal Shelter. She was purring and enjoyed having her picture taken.
I LOVE you "photo of the day." The cat has such amazing eyes and you really took advantage of making them stand out! I agree with your comment on the whiskers. I enjoyed reading your experience at the shelter.. I dont know why but I do feel a bit nervous about going Saturday because I won't be with the class. I am glad we are in the same boat since we are both going to separate shelters so I will be right there with ya girl!
ReplyDelete@Peyton, Thank you..taking that picture was pretty much the highlight of the visit. It was actually more intimidating than I thought it would be to go by myself, especially when the staff kept asking me what I was doing with a camera. You can do it! I'm here for support and can't wait to hear how your visit goes!
ReplyDeleteFelma is lovely. She reminds me so much of our cat Pickles which belonged to my daughter. Pickles had lots of personality and I think that's also what this photo conveys so well. Great job! I agree the eyes are the focal point and really stand out against the grey striped coat. I feel really engaged by her body reaching out to me and by the size of her eyes. (The one thing I think I'd be careful of is making her eyes seem any larger as it will remind me of those drug store greeting cards that have animals with enlarged heads! Sorry, I just had to say it!)
ReplyDeleteHang in there. You're awesome to be doing this on your own (although I can't have too much sympathy since you get to have the beach close by!) It's not so hard, I agree...we're all in the same boat in a way. I felt sooo much more confidet after photographing animal after animal yesterday. Now I really know that I can do it which I definitely didn't feel before I jumped in.
It is worse seeing the ones shaking in fright. It has been hard for me to walk away from them, leaving them that way. I don't think I counted on the emotional price of taking this class.
ReplyDelete@Karen I agree, it certainly is difficult.
ReplyDeleteVery good cat photograph. I can imagine the animals are all very scared. As scared as we might be if we were put there without any way of explaining. That thought makes me very sad, but that is where we all come in! I really believe our photos will make a difference, and can save lives!
ReplyDelete@Professor Johnstone Interesting perspective...I can't even begin to imagine how they are put there without any explanation. It is very sad. But that's why we are there to help!
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