Ballantyne, Charlotte, North Carolina Photographer Posts Shelter Dog Portrait Photos for 365 Consecutive Days to Raise Donations for Local Animal Rescue Groups
The goal of the 365 campaign is to raise awareness about the number of animals in the shelters and to raise money for the rescues that give them a chance to live. Limited edition prints of selected photos are now available to purchase. 50% of the proceeds go directly to local animal rescue organizations.
Limited Edition prints are now available! CLICK HERE
I do not know this dog’s name or if he even had one. He was 1 of 42 dogs confiscated during a dog fighting investigation. https://www.wbtv.com/2019/06/21/possible-dog-fighting-ring-busted-york-county/
The dogs were found in terrible shape. All of them were brought to York County Animal Shelter via court order and held inside the facility for months, never able to go outside.
When the court released the dogs as evidence, many went to rescue or special placement. Not this guy.
He had likely never run free or seen a ball in his whole life. He was ecstatic and absolutely gorgeous- a fawn colored big strong boy running around like he was the happiest dog on the planet. It was just me and him in an enclosure playing fetch having the time of our lives. I’ll never forget it.
What you can’t see is that we were completely alone- alone amongst an animal shelter with 400+ animals in and around the building; Alone despite 10’s of the magnitude of volunteers walking the dogs out front, sure not to let him see them; Alone despite 1000’s of county correctional prisoners in a building next door. We were alone because it was likely if he encountered another animal no one would be safe- not me, not him and certainly not the other animal.
He was raised by human beings to react in that manner for money, for sport and for entertainment. It is not his fault. He was a good boy who loved to get scratched, play ball and run outside. So for just that 1 day, that’s exactly what he got. He was humanely euthanized on September 23rd, 2019, the day after I took this photo. RIP, handsome boy.
