After waiting six months in foster care — and watching all her puppies find homes — Lindy, an Australian cattle dog mix in Arizona, has finally found her forever family thanks to our One Picture Saves a Life program, which teaches pet rescuers to take great photos of their adoptable pets, and also grants DSLR cameras and Photoshop photo-editing software to adoption groups.
“Shortly after coming back from the One Picture Saves a Life seminar, we took new pictures of Lindy,” Tiffany Rosler, president of the Tucson-based rescue group In the Arms of Angels, tells us. “The lady who adopted her said her photos 100% were the reason she came in to adopt her. She felt a connection to Lindy off of the photos.”
Rosler adds that the techniques she and her volunteers learned at the One Picture seminar are making a huge difference for the harder-to-adopt dogs being cared for by her group: “Our adult adoptions have increased tremendously since getting the new camera, learning how to use it and working with Photoshop to take out leashes and add watermarks.”
With The Animal Rescue Site, GreaterGood.org, John Paul Pet and Underwater Dogs photographer Set Casteel, we’re hosting One Picture Saves a Life workshops around the country for shelter and rescue group staff and volunteers. In the Arms of Angels was one of 10 groups that attended the June workshop in Las Vegas, where participants learned how to groom their homeless pets for the camera and get high-quality images of them to share online.
Rosler said she’s used the program’s online tutorials to teach foster parents to take great pictures of pets like Ace, below, whose foster mom took new photos that helped him find a home.
“We sent her the link to the online tutorials of what camera settings to use and other helpful tips,” Rosler says. “Ace had so much attention from his new photos that we were able to get another adult dog adopted as a referral off of Ace’s photos. His adopter said his pictures were awesome, and he knew Ace was going to fit in perfectly — which he did.”
The program has worked so well for In the Arms of Angels that Rosler has started teaching the tips to shelters and rescue groups around Southeastern Arizona.
“I love the online tutorials and have shared them with many rescue groups and shelters because the information is great,” Rosler says. “We are so excited about the endless possibilities these tools have given us.”
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