This week we had marvellous fun photographing the loveable adoptables at Toronto Animal Services! Lots of doggies are coming up for adoption and you get to see a sneak peak here – and there are even a couple of cats this week too! They are all waiting to meet you at Toronto Animal Services (North Region), but as usual, you can find a little more information about each of them on the Posh Pets’ Facebook pagetoo. Thank you for sharing their pictures and their furry faces…it helps them to find their forever homes!
This week’s group yielded a “trio of three year olds”. While kittens and puppies are indescribably cute, the more mature furry faces have much love to give as well.
As always you can contact Toronto Animal Services (North) directly to inquire about any of the animals you see here. We also have a little information about each of them on the Posh Pets’ Facebook page. See you next week!
This week we were given the task of showing motivation. Specifically, the instructions were “…whatever (it) means to you…have fun with it!” If you spend enough time with animals, you will quickly realize that they can communicate all kinds of things just by a look – the desire to play, the necessity of treats, the guilt of “your leaving me…again.” Given that our cat, Lady Jane, has any number of these looks, I spent some time brainstorming what I could do for this week’s image. I turned around to see where Lady Jane was (since Ripley’s passing, she spends many hours laying under my office chair and I have to always check before I move it lest I roll over her precious paws) and this is what I saw. Possibly the most un-motivated pose ever. The irony of the moment made me laugh out loud (and grab my iPhone for a quick picture)!
The truth is though, Lady Jane is definitely one of my motivators for my business and my life. She is truly a cuddly cat who began life in a shelter, but now loves to be with us. She is also already 15.5 years old and, as much as I hate to think about it, she will not live forever. We lost Ripley earlier this year and the time will come when I will no longer have a furry grey Lady Jane sleeping on the bed beside me. What I do have are the glorious pictures of the two of them that I have taken during the years – memories captured forever. That is why I am a pet photographer. And why I volunteer each week to help shelter animals.
So, please enjoy this week’s image of Lady Jane who is my picture of motivation.
PS: After this picture and my laugh, I was truly motivated to crawl back into bed and take a nap…so you see motivation can mean just so many things!
Next in our blog circle is talented Quad-Cities Pet Photographer, Mary Beth Arnold. Let’s see where she and the rest of the blog circle got their motivation from this week!
Here is the roundup for this week’s group of furry adoptable faces! Everyone is cute and cuddly and would love to jump into your heart and home. There is a little more information on the Toronto Animal Services (North) website as well as the Posh Pets’ Facebook page about each of these wonderful boys and girls. If you see someone you would like to get to know better, please contact TAS directly to arrange a meet-and-greet.
Here is this week’s round-up of adorable adoptables available at Toronto Animal Services (North). As always, we have a little more information about each of them on the Posh Pets’ Facebook page and you can get all of the details by contacting TAS directly.
Incidentally, Miki (the beautiful dog in this first photo) was our 299th subject for 2012! I’m sure you would agree that she is stunning and, in person, is such a calm, sweetheart who walks beautifully on her leash. Come and meet Miki and all of her friends today!
After a bit of a vacation, I went back to TAS this morning. Boy, did that feel good! Lots of tail-waggers to meet and photograph, and some really gorgeous pets just awaiting their forever homes. If you see a guy or gal that you like, please contact Toronto Animal Services (North Region) directly. They can arrange a meeting with your prospective new family member.
You can also find out a little bit more about each of these furry faces on the Posh Pets’ Facebook page. Please check it out and share their images!
First, are the graceful felines…
And now the tail-wagging canines…
Thanks for joining us – we’ll see you again next week!
Posh Pets is back with another instalment of Project 52 with Beautiful Beasties! This week, our challenge was to do a little “street photography” by producing an image that showed a little more of its surroundings and was more documentary in nature.
We met this little guy on the street, gamely sitting on his balcony. He lives on one of the prettiest streets in Haifa, Israel, in the German Colony and seemed to be enjoying the peace and quiet of this particular morning. I loved how the morning light hit him just so…and so I snuck an image (or two or three or more).
If you haven’t followed us before, here is the deal…this is a blog circle of pet photographers who each interpret the theme in their own way. So, please go and check out our newest member StinkDog Photos in Denver, CO and see what she found on the ‘street’ this week! And then continue all the way around until you end up with Posh Pets!
A few days ago we spent some time in Caesarea, specifically amongst the ancient ruins that date from King Herod’s time. The views of the Mediterranean Sea were stunning and it was somewhat overwhelming to stand on the remains of what was, at one time, the busiest port and to imagine what life was like. Today, Caesarea has been revitalized with art and jewellery stores together with some amazing restaurants where you can sit and enjoy the view.
One thing we did notice as soon as we got there was that there seemed to be a lot of cats enjoying the view (and the friendly pats from the tourists!) as well. The first one we met was Tommy, as the staff told us. A seemingly homeless cat who had a name and looked as good as he did…well, we knew that there had to be someone caring for him. A little while later, we noticed a sign with an arrow saying, “Cat’s Corner”. We couldn’t resist and so off we went to explore a bit. We came upon a little shop named Cat’s Corner just as it was evidently supper time. For there was the shop keeper banging a spoon on a table and feeding a group of cats.
In speaking with her, she told me the story. She currently cares for approximately 30 cats who have all come from abusive environments. Caesarea has become somewhat of a refuge for these homeless kitties. Sometimes people just abandon them on the property for her to care for. Which is a better option than what others do. She has an arrangement with a kindly veterinarian who comes once a week, on a volunteer basis, to check up on them and to ensure that everyone is happy and healthy. And she tries to educate people that cats are loving creatures who should be treated kindly. Unfortunately, she explained, Israeli children seem to “come out from the womb kicking cats” and thus, most cats are scared of people.
Her store has all kinds of cat-related items and she uses 10% of her profits toward the upkeep of her growing brood. She also gladly takes donations which one can place in a little basket. Although, for a time, they thought someone was stealing the money as some would go missing every day. It wasn’t until they made a point of watching very carefully that they found out who the thief was…the very same Tommy that we met!
So, should you ever be in Israel, be sure to take in the views of Caesarea and visit Cat’s Corner…there will probably be more than 30 cats by then!
Here is the famous Tommy…
This beautiful boy has a bit of a bald line on his flank. The reason? Someone wanted him away from their restaurant and so threw hot oil on him! He was in agony, but has been nursed back to health in Caesarea and continues to seek out cuddles and gentle pets from people.
This is Tiger who is still a bit shy of people but will watch you with great interest from afar.
Unlike the Netherlands, where we saw very few stray animals, there seems to be quite a number in Israel. Especially Jerusalem. One of the locals told us that 8 cats were originally brought in to combat the rats and now they estimate that there are 40,000 cats in Jerusalem. We have seen quite a number of them, and unfortunately, a lot of them do not look particularly healthy. It cannot be easy to be a cat on the streets in Israel.
This little girl was in within the walls of Jerusalem, looking for table scraps from the tourists. Such a polite girl too – once she had her fill, she lay down and relaxed while sharing her remaining food with another kitty. She was quiet and gentle, although a little wary of strangers.
This little guy was at Hezekiah’s Tunnel, greeting the tourists. Seemed to be quite at home as if he owned the place! Would come over and rub against you, all the while purring. And when I called to him, he posed as if he knew this was part of the job.
We found this little guy, deep in thought, in the ancient port village of Joppa. A small, but beautiful city with cobbled streets, it is now home to art galleries, artisan shops and fantastic restaurants. All of which seem to go by unnoticed by this thoughtful feline.
Today, I am very happy to spotlight one of our recent sessions – the lovely Abbey! Last time we featured her gorgeous brother, Chester, but Abbey is so beautiful she deserves her own Posh Pets’ post.
When I first heard that I would be photographing Abbey, I nearly squealed with delight – I absolutely love orange tabbies! It goes without saying that they tend to be very good-looking creatures with lovely personalities, but, I think the reason I am so drawn to them is because of our own orange tabby Ripley, who we lost a few months ago. In any case, any time I see an orange tabby, I just know that it will be wonderful!
Abbey patrols her territory like any respectable kitty, and she soon came by to determine what we were doing with her brother, Chester. When she saw that nothing was amiss, she went her way to explore a little more. However, when we returned from our park session with Chester, there she was, waiting in the driveway for her turn in the spotlight. On that beautiful evening, we got some lovely images of her which will forever grace the rooms of the home she shares with her humans. (I believe that some images are heading off to university this fall…) Just look at those eyes!
There was a whole gaggle of furry faces that passed in front of the Posh Pets‘ lens this week! And each one was adorable and is eagerly awaiting their forever family to come and find them! There is a little more info on each of these future pets on the Posh Pets’ Facebook page, but please contact Toronto Animal Services (North Region) directly to arrange an introduction. And thank you to all that share their lovely images…it really does help in finding them homes.
This post is long overdue! It was back on June 16, 2012 that Posh Pets had the pleasure of participating in Pet Valu’s (located at King & Dufferin) Grand Re-Opening. We had so much fun photographing these lovely furry faces that day! We (and the dogs and the one cat!) were especially thankful to be inside as it really got hot outside…!
Everyone who came out received a complimentary gorgeous 5×7 print of the chosen image, courtesy of Marilyn & David of Pet Valu. We sincerely hope that you enjoy them for years to come!
I’ve managed to place the final images into a little video slide-show, although I must apologize for the colour being overly saturated. As a photographer, I am very new to the video world and it would seem that the video-processing software I used seems to deepen the colours quite a bit. I will have to figure this part out. You can, however, see all of the images over on the Posh Pets Facebook page if you like.
