Visual Blog

A Second Chance for Death Row Dogs

    On July 9th, 2016 dozens of dogs and a handful of cats completed the first step in their journey out of high kill animal shelters and into loving homes. 

    Starfish Animal Rescue has been collaborating with a high kill shelter in rural Kentucky since 2006, rescuing an average of 1,500 puppies and adult dogs a year. The Kentucky shelter admits on averages 200 dogs and puppies a month. This massive intake overwhelms the shelter and leads to most of the animals being euthanized when their hold period is up. This happens not because the animals are aggressive or unadoptable, but simply because there is no room or resources to keep them. 

    These Kentucky dogs and cats of all ages are loaded in a cargo van and prepared for the long drive to Illinois. Large crates line the floor of the van and small crates stack up from there. Long temperature control vents run from the front of the van to the back to keep the animals as comfortable as possible on this long drive. When they arrive in Batavia, IL a large group of volunteers are waiting for them. 

    The animals are unloaded from the van in their crates and sorted into groups by the various rescue organizations that will be picking them up. Each animal is taken out of the crate and outside to go to the bathroom and receive food and water. The volunteer assigned to that animal walks them and waits with them until the animals crate is cleaned and they are ready to be picked up by their rescue group. Many of the animals, scared and tired from the transport, are just ecstatic to see grass and feel it under their paws. 

    On this particular transport there was a mom dog and her puppies brought together. Most of the time puppies are surrender by themselves without either mom or dad. After being taken outside to walk around and eat the doting mom was reunited with her puppies. She looked over each pup, giving gentle nudges and kisses, making sure they where all accounted for and taken care of. This is a rare opportunity for the rescue group to show first hand the importance of spaying and neutering pets. Even though she is very caring mother and did a great job caring for her pups, we do not need her to bring even more pups into the world in the future. The most effective long term solution to the large number of animals being euthanized every year is responsible pet ownership and spay/neuter education.  

    Starfish and so many other rescue groups like them are working tirelessly to save these animals that have been abandoned and forgotten. For every animal that they save a live is changed forever. Not just the lives of the animals saved from the brink of death, but the lives of the families that adopt these animals and enjoy the unconditional love of a companion animal, a new member of the family. 

Union to 59

I sat in an empty train car a couple months while traveling home from Chicago. I had just spent the weekend wandering around the city taking photos. The ride was slow and relaxed. As boredom set in I looked for things to shoot on the train and tried shooting out the window at one of the many stops. I was surprised to see an ominous green haze over the photo, I played with this haze the rest of the ride home.

4:56 A.M.

       On February 29, 2012 an EF-4 tornado ripped through the town of Harrisburg, Ill. I remember my roommate getting the phone call, from our Editor in Chief, telling us that a tornado had touched down and we should go check it out. We had no clue what we where walking in to. We expected some damaged houses and blown down trees, but the devastation was unthinkable. 

      Neighbors who had spent the morning digging their friends and family out of demolished houses now helped each other gather belonging. Families mourned their losses. First responders worked to clear the roads and secure the area. And volunteers started to pour in asking to help in any way. 

    In the days that followed I saw a community pull together and take care of their own in a way I never witnessed before. They cared for their community and they opened their lives to the horde of media that covered the storm. I feel so honored to have met the people I documented for months after the storm and to have worked with so many amazing journalist who showed true compassion for the victims. 

    It has been four years since this deadly tornado shaped the town of Harrisburg and took so much from the people who lived their. But this anniversary also marks the day that a community came together through tragedy and came up a stronger town that took care of its own. 

    I am forever grateful to the people I met while photographing this event. I feel that this experience shaped me as a journalist and instilled in me the desire to tell people's stories in the best and worst of times. 

An Aussie Taste

   After countless hours of travel, most by plane, students from across the United States staggered off their final flight. Through tired eyes they took in their first sight of Australia. Rustic Pathways group leaders were there to greet their students and soon everyone was off and heading toward their first adventures.

   The students participating in the Golden Sands and Helping Hands program headed deep into the Glasshouse Mountains to settle into what would be called home for the next ten days. This group had a focus on service in the community and spent their second day at a local school. They worked with the Aussie kids in the classrooms and played games outside for hours. The day was ended with a hike up Mount Ngungun and gorgeous views of the Glasshouse Mountains. They also shopped local markets, camped at a outback farm and walked the famous Noosa beaches looking for koalas. 

   Another group had their full attention aimed at the waves. The group of kids in the Aussie Surf and Service program spent most days gaining valuable surfing knowledge from local surfers. They did leave the break long enough to camp on the worlds largest sand island, Fraser Island. Here the students spent sunrise and sunset on the gorgeous beaches after full days of culture immersion. They watched for migrating whales on a small boat with a biologist and sand boarded huge dunes. They also spent an evening with a local man of Aboriginal decent. They learned parts of the aboriginal history of the island and also spent time perfecting the art of the boomerangs throw. 

Of all the groups traveling through Australia one group got extremely up close and personal with some locals. The students in the ‘You a Roo and the Australia Zoo’ program spent their ten days delving into the workings of the Australia Zoo. They shadowed zookeepers and spent afternoons on animal encounters, including koalas, dingos, cheetahs and many other Australian favorites. 

    After ten days of exploring their corner of Australia the students met back at the Brisbane Airport. Bitter sweet goodbyes could be heard through the groups as some planned to head home and some moved on to their next adventure.