Animals, once filled with despair and anguish, are given the chance to put their best paw forward, one photo at a time. It is all part of a program called Project Picture that is helping homeless dogs and cats find new homes in Los Angeles.
Emmy Award winning journalist Lu Parker came up with the idea to help the homeless pets. She describes it as a sort of eHarmony for animals. “If you are going to try and find a date, you put your best picture on the site, not an ugly one. You may not find a boyfriend, but if your picture is good, you get a date. That date could lead to marriage, or a new home in this case,” says Lu.
Project Picture is funded by Lu Parker Project (LPP), an all volunteer group dedicated to improving the lives of homeless animals and at-risk youth through education, the arts, and community projects. Project Picture kicked off in October 2010, and since then the group has photographed over 100 homeless animals with an 89 percent success rate with adoptions and rescues. Los Angeles Animal Services South L.A. Shelter (SLA) has been the prototype for the program. In time Lu Parker Project hopes to expand to more Los Angeles city animal shelters.
How it works
LPP, one of Best Friend' No More Homeless Pets Network partners, is currently scheduling photo shoots every other Saturday at the South L.A. Shelter. They typically have one volunteer photographer shoot approximately 20 dogs and cats. Other volunteers brush and walk the 
dogs. The photos are then downloaded to this blog that is sent to nearly 1,000 contacts, and is then networked via social media such as Facebook and Twitter. There is also a huge cork wall at South L.A. shelter that displays each animal’s color portrait. A black and white photo is placed at each animal’s cage.
Shelter workers say it’s working! They say people are asking specifically for dogs or cats they have seen on the blog. According to Tomika Johnson, a New Hope coordinator with LAAS’ New Hope Partners, Project Picture seems to be making a big difference. Tomika, who met Lu back in 2009, says “Lu has been very involved with South L.A. Shelter since she adopted her little boy Monkey from there. Since then, LPP has redecorated our lobby, raised funds to buy decent washer/dryer machines, and is now going the extra mile to take beautiful photos of the animals.”
According to Tomika, the South L.A. shelter (located off Crenshaw Blvd.) is one of the smallest shelters in the L.A. system, yet they take in the most animals. They average 140-150 dogs per week, and often take in more animals in one day than the West L.A. Shelter takes in for an entire week!
It goes without saying that shelter animals with better pictures posted online tend to get more inquiries, and are more likely to get adopted sooner. The time and effort it takes to pull this off was something beyond the scope of what SLA could do on its own, which is where LPP comes in.
The photographer
Poly Veitzer loves animals and photography, and has used her talents to help in the homeless animal community for years. She only recently began volunteering for Lu Parker Project. She believes the nonprofit is addressing the homeless pet issue directly by getting the attention of the potential adopters.
Poly explains it this way, “Shelter photographs are often so sad, scared or plain awful, and yet so many of the animals are truly adorable. If an adopter is just scanning the pet sites looking for a special connection, it’s hard to imagine they will find it with an out of focus photo of a frightened animal.”
She also hopes these pictures will help to change the perspective that many folks still have-that all shelter animals are in some way broken, damaged, old or vicious.
“The photos we post on the Project Picture blog not only help the individual animal attract the attention of a potential adopter, but hopefully they act as emissaries to help people overcome their misconstrued opinion of shelter pets," says Poly.
The project manager
Jennifer Bunn, a former social worker, coordinates the photo shoots and assists with handling the details of each session. She was recently promoted to manager of Project Picture, which she says she is thrilled about. “I was so excited because Lu Parker Project is an organization that starts from the bottom and focuses on education. Without education, we as animal welfare volunteers will constantly be spinning our wheels and trying to find homes for these pets week after week. I truly believe in this project!”
Jennifer believes Project Picture is headed in a great direction. “Not only do we photograph the pets, but we educate the community. Just by our presence at the shelter, many pets are NOT surrendered by their owners because someone from Lu Parker Project educates them on what could possibly happen to their pet if it was left at the shelter."
They try to find alternatives, but this is hard work. They need help.
Volunteers needed
Project Picture is currently seeking volunteers to help with photographing, primping, and walking the models prior to their photo session. The next shoot is scheduled for this Saturday, February 4, 10:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. The next two are scheduled for Saturday, February 18 and Saturday March 3, time TBD.
Photos courtesy of Lu Parker