After searching the term "pit bull" on Delicious.com I came across Pit Bull Rescue Central. Under Pit Bull Education - Materials is a PDF (listed below) of pictures of various dog breeds which most people mistake for a Pit Bull. Out of the 18 dogs listed there is actually only one Pit Bull. When I met Marie, the owner of Kitty Connection, she had told me about a similar test someone conducted to show that most people are wrong when they refer to a dog as a "Pit Bull". This could put into question the number of dog bites listed as being done by a Pit Bull, and possibly destroy the argument that this breed has the most dog bites recorded. I think the only way to clear the record would be to blood test every single dog which is reported to have bitten someone to see what the true DNA is, but that is something that would probably be impossible to do.

The test: http://www.pbrc.net/misc/PBRC_find_the_pitbull.pdf

The answers: http://www.pbrc.net/misc/PBRC_find_the_pitbull_key.pdf

Ruby & Rusty / Beagle-Mutts

Today I spent the afternoon trying to photograph my own two dogs (beagle-mutts). They were by far the more difficult dogs to photograph. One of my dogs, Rusty, was getting very nervous when I was saying commands like 'sit' 'paw' 'lay' and my other dog, Ruby, was very nervous about the sound the camera's shutter was making when taking photos. 

Penny / Pit Bull & Kitty Connection

Today I had arranged to meet with the owner of Kitty Connection, Marie. The purpose of the visit was to talk about general topics of owning a rescue and adoption organization and well as photographing some of the cats she currently has for adoption as well as her Pit Bull mix Penny.

She was very informative and knew exactly what she was talking about. Topics we discussed ranged from dog bites, to obedience training, to successful adoptions as well as disgruntled turned-down adoptees who were turned away because the organization didn’t feel that they were a good match for the cat or kitten they had originally set their hearts on.

A large part of our discussion was on the bad image Pit Bulls have. She showed me a dog prong collar (shown below) that she uses when she walks her Pit Bull Penny. She said that she didn’t like to use it because of the negative association it has to people and their assumption that it means the dog wearing it will bite or attack them. I had not been familiar with that particular type of dog collar. Marie explained to me the purpose of it’s design: If one dog were to try and bite another dog they would most likely go for the throat. This collar rests around the dogs throat and the prongs are, in a sense, in place of a dog’s teeth. When the owner yanks on the collar when it’s attached to the leash the collar will tighten up but not choke or do any actually harm to the dog. This shows the dog that the owner is the dominant one and to follow their commands. It is a great help when it comes to obedience training.

Marie suggested I browse through the organization’s success stories and possibly meet with a family that had to very young daughters who recently adopted a Pit Bull. As we were discussing this she brought up the story of how she came to adopt Penny, her Pit Bull. Another woman had originally adopted Penny. The woman called the organization and said the dog had been aggressive towards her. The organization suggested bringing Penny to a dog trainer they used with all their dogs to try and figure out why the dog was getting aggressive. At the dog classes Marie was present and Penny showed no aggression and was well behaved. The original adopter brought her back home and soon after she escaped. The Kitty Connection contacted other rescue leagues in hopes of finding Penny. She was missing for several weeks, there were posters put up, and dog traps set but it didn’t do anything. Then one day Penny just shows up at Marie’s front door (a few cities away from where the adopter lived) and she has been at Marie’s house ever since. She knew it was a sign that Penny was supposed to stay with her.

(Prong dog collar)

Click on the images to viewer them at a larger size.

Today I took photos of four different dogs - Duncan, Maggie, Gracie and Tucker. 

Dog Photographs

I have been e-mailing back and forth with a woman who works for Kitty Connection based out of Medford, MA. On their websites they are listed as having several pit bull breed dogs and I have been working out a day to visit the shelter and take photos of the dogs to begin creating my posters.

Amy Stein

A photographer who was discussed today in one of my classes. This is her series on domestication / us VS the wild.
http://www.amysteinphoto.com/domesticated.html

Working out poster text

Ideas for poster line text and photos.
ABUSE
(Show no humans. Allude to physical abuse and emotional abuse.)
1. It’s lonely at the top. (dog left outside, in yard?)
2. My kennel isn’t a babysitter. (dog in a kennel)
3. Unknown message. (a dog and a dog house, have dog “cut out” of image, add dotted line around shape of dog)


BREEDISM
(Show pure bred “power breeds” or "bully breeds"- Pit bull, Rottweiler, Chow Chow, Doberman)
1. Who’s the guiltiest of them all?
2. What’s the verdict?
3. We the jury find…
4. Who’s to blame?
5. One in the same

Or no words ~
1. a large X on a German Shepherd’s face and a check mark on a Golden Retriever’s face - approving a dog based on breed
2. Large red K, idea of the scarlet letter. Pit bull has a K for killer.
3. Third one unknown right now.
4. Unknown.

COMPANIONSHIP
1. Animal first. Companion second.
2. My name doesn’t make me.
3. Table for two.
4. Unknown.

—————————
Book to accompany poster.

For each set of photos there will be a book that goes with it, sort of a “here’s more info…” type deal. There will be three books. The covers of the book with be one of the photos from each campaign. Book will include an opening paragraph by me, then a few (probably five) articles to follow showing different points of view on the subject matter.
These are two paragraphs I’ve been trying to work out as the opening paragraph of each book
Abuse opening paragraphThere are different types of abuse when it comes to owning a pet. There, of course, if physical abuse but there is also emotional abuse. Dogs, just like human beings, need sunlight, exercise and fresh air. What is the purpose of owning a dog when you have a full time job that requires most of your attention? What about giving a pet the full attention it deserves? After all, a kennel isn’t a babysitter.
Companionship Paragraph
All too often we seem to forget that out beloved pet is an animal at heart. We can dress them in clothing, call them our “babies” and treat them another family member but this doesn’t change their true nature. They are an animal first and a companion second.


None of these are completed ideas. This is just to show a process of figuring out tag lines or body copy of posters and also a book to accompany those posters.

Methuen Animal Care and Adoption Center at Nevins Farm

Today I went to visit the Methuen Animal Care and Adoption Center at Nevins Farm. I had never heard of this place prior to my conversation with Erica Ruch, she suggested giving it a visit. I was very impressed with the place. It is a large property with many animals of all varieties. I only took pictures of the outside of the main building and of the property. It didn't open until noon time, but there was a long line formed outside the door waiting for it to open which was really surprising to me. 

It was really interesting (and aggravating) observing the other people who were also there. It put visual imagery in my head to match up with articles I have read. By this I mean, for example, I have read articles on cases of dog bites, how dog bites have occurred and how the people in most situations are at fault. I watched as a young girl (around 12 years old) and her mother stuck their hands through a fence trying to reach a pit bull who was visibly agitated and angry- she was barking and growling with her tail hidden. A staff member yelled at them THREE times with in 10 minutes telling them not to stick their hands through the fence (which there were also many signs saying the same) because the dog was getting upset. They kept ignoring the woman to the point that the staff member had to take the dog back inside and put her back in her kennel. So this dog's outside time had to end early due to ignorant morons. 

I also watched as a mother let her small son (around 3 years old) throw rocks at the chickens, and she just laughed along like it was the cutest thing she had seen. It was really aggravating to watch. 

Inside the adoption center was very nice. It was large and organized. Each room had volunteer monitors to watch over the animals, each of them had knowledge of each individual animal such as where they came from, their age, and so on. Most of the dogs had pending adoptions or completed adoption processes. The number of cats was unbelievable. They had many in kennels and there was also two large rooms filled with cat furniture and around ten cats in each room. 

On the way out I saw a man with his two small children standing in line with 3 birds in a cage and a very young black cat. I had assumed he was adopting them because the children looked very happy and the man looked/was acting very casual and content. But when a staff member approached him it was clear I had assumed wrongly. What I learned from eaves dropping on the conversation was he was there to surrender the three birds and cat. I was surprised because he seemed completely fine giving up these pets and showed no signs of remorse. (But to be fair, this could also be because he was with his two small children and didn't want to make them upset. It was clear the children didn't know what was going on and that they wouldn't be leaving with the pets.)

Here is a list of adoptable pets at the Methuen Animal Care and Adoption Center at Nevins Farm

Meeting with Erica Ruch

At my review it was suggested that I just focus on the articles and information I have right now and sort through the various topics trying to narrow them down. The topics I have as of now are domestication, court cases/legal articles, companionship & bonding, chemical reactions to animals, and statistics. I was thinking of picking 4 topics and making 4 books each focusing on one topic each.

Last night I met with Erica Ruch who is a teacher at Montserrat and also works full time for PETA. I told her about my idea of making four different books each focusing on one topic. She introduced a new term (& issue) to me, which is “breedism”. We talked about visuals for the books and how to go about obtaining those visuals. She was very helpful with suggestions on how to brainstorm the structure of the books and how to focus on each topic.

After I have the outlines of the books and topics figured out, I am going to e-mail them to her and get her feed back seeing as she works for PETA and knows a lot of information and resources.   

October 26, 2010

One week so far

Photo taken on October 20th, 2010

Fur installation, legal readings

Today I set up my fur installation in a tree in my backyard. I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. I think I am going to take a photo of it once a week to document what happens to it from the weather and animals. 

I've been reading some of the articles from Hauser, Cushman and Kamen, eds., People, Property, or Pets? (2006) The articles have been really interesting because it's as if the articles were written for court cases. The articles discuss different legal standpoints of animals being considered property, or their own individual beings with legal rights, and the pros and cons of each. If animals react according to their desires, are they not able to govern their own lives? Do they have the ability to think through their actions? Should owners be held 100% accountable for their pets actions or should the punishment be completely on the pet?


I was discussing the "cute" factor with John McVey and dogs as fads. Dog commercials have always  been using purebred "cute" dogs to promote there brands. For my next smaller project I am going to go to local pet stores and write down the prices of pet supplies. I think it's such a disappointment when reading descriptions of why an animal was given up and the reason is along the lines of "the owner was unable to care for/able to afford the pet". It's such a disappointment because it can be so easily prevented. A person wouldn't even have to get off the couch to figure out if they could afford a pet. They could go to pet store websites and write down the costs of things. I think I'm going to design a small brochure-type hand out that includes the initial cost of adopting a cat, dog, bird, reptile etc and what it will add up to be yearly.


Here are two examples of dog food commercials using the "cute" factor to sell their brand.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hANeIYvk3VE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puzqVlyNxxE (This video link proves the point exactly because if you scroll down to the comments, currently the first one says,"Omg!!! What kind of dog is that cuase i want it!!! lol. Someone pllaaaeessseeee tell me!! :)")


And last, this is from a website talking about overpopulation in California and a brief overview of the proposed California pet microchip legislation.

"Yes she's a beautiful Dalmatian, but Dalmatians are so retro. I mean golly, I might as well be seen with my last year's Golden Retriever. Stinko! I saw an ad for a Pressa Canaria. Such a hunk! And they come in fawn."

Quick update from the weekend

This weekend I came across the Animal Planet show called Killer Aliens. This is the basis of the show:


Welcome to ground zero in America for invasive species: Florida. The Sunshine State is being overrun by lethal Burmese pythons, feral hogs, Nile monitor lizards, and Gambian rats the size of cats - all non-native species that have been imported by humans. These foreign invaders are wreaking havoc on the ecosystem and natural species are being thwarted. With no natural predators, their populations continue to spread rapidly throughout the state, spreading disease, destroying vegetation and crops, preying on native species and in the worst cases harming humans. It's a race against time to fight this ecosystem nightmare. The front lines are expanding, and no one knows where they are headed next.    

Continuation of fur spheres

I've been working on putting together the fur spheres I wrote about in the previous entry. Originally I was going to create the spheres from wire and newspaper. The first newspaper and then wire spheres I created proved not to be sturdy enough. I decided to use foam balls instead but due to prices I had to change the size I had originally wanted to have (the largest one foot wide foam ball was $20 each and I would have needed 5 of them which just wasn't do-able).

John let me borrow two books of his, the first one being The Postmodern Animal (c. 2000) by Steve Baker. It explores how animal imagery has been used in recent and contemporary art and performance, and in postmodern philosophy and literature, to shape ideas about identity and creativity. I have not had a chance to actually read it, but I spent some time looking at the photos in the book. One of them (shown below) caught my attention. It is Tar and Feathers (1996) by Mark Dion, tree, wooden base, tar, feathers, various taxidermic animals. This photo has me thinking of different purposes for my fur spheres. Originally I was creating this just to hang from the ceiling and each sphere represents a different number of animals euthanized in Merced County, CA. I think when it is complete I will hang it outside, from a tree, and take a photo once a week of the condition of the spheres. The idea behind this would be the fact that some people leave their pets/animals out on the street to fend for themselves. I would in turn be leaving these spheres to "fend" for themselves with the elements. 

The second book is People, Property, or Pets? by Hauser, Cushman and Kamem from the Harvard Law School library. It's made up of articles discussing pets as property, animal ethics and legal status, animal's rights, moral and practical problems, and animal testing. I have read one of the articles so far and I am very intrigued by everything in this book because it's focusing on laws and rules. 


Lindsey made the suggestion of looking into familiars. That thought had never crossed my mind and I was really excited when it was brought up. I have read through wikipedia pages connected to the "familiars" one and have read through most of them. I find it really interesting so I looked up some discussion boards pertaining to this. I didn't find anything interesting on any of them. Mostly people just talking about (in my opinion) close bonds with pets that they take as spiritual. But I am going to keep on reading and searching this topic. 

An update from the end of summer: I had sent out several e-mails to organizations and animal controls through out Massachusetts. The majority received no response back. I was not able to get a hold of the information I was looking for. This led to me taking a step back and looking at subjects with a wider scope. From doing broader research I came across several interesting topics such as several states taking into consideration including pets in temporary restraining orders and I was also introduced to http://www.coolinfographics.com which is very interesting to me and has helped me start thinking of ways to display information. 

The semester so far: I am working on a side project right now. I am trying to construct structures and sculptures while having them correspond to the information I have so far. My first project is going to be constructing three different sized spheres covered in fur, each representing a specific number of animals euthanized in Merced County, CA for the year of 2009. 

I will also be listing links I have come across during my research, or stumble on through clicking through various sites and blogs. They may not have anything to do with my seminar research but the links will be of something that interested me, this being the first one:  http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/

I received a reply from ARL Boston... They do in fact keep records but they are not sure if they can release them to the public. I'm e-mailing the shelter manager today to ask more about getting these records.

I sent an e-mail to the ARL Boston tonight asking if they keep records.
Keeping my fingers crossed!

(e-mail which I sent):

Hello!

My name is Jennifer O’Brien. I was wondering if there is a chance the ARL keeps records of animals the shelters take in, such as where the animal was originally from and why they were taken into the shelter (such as a family just couldn’t care for them anymore, or someone found them on the street). I’m collecting information for my college seminar project. I’m trying to do research as to why certain areas of a town would have more abandoned animals than another part of town. I contacted several animal control offices but apparently they don’t keep track of calls they receive/respond to, who knew! SO now I’m trying to get information from local shelters and rescue leagues.

So, any information you could provide me with would be REALLY REEAALLLYYY appreciated! I know you have bigger and more important matters to attend to, but I’m just trying to do some in depth research into abandoned animals and possible causes.

Thank you SO much for your time!

-Jennifer O’Brien

My tasks for this summer regarding my senior design seminar project has been to collect the data I need and to accompany an animal control officer for one of their shifts so I could get first hand experience with what I would be researching.

I have borrowed several books from the library regarding Edward Tufte. I am completely amazed by the maps and graphs he has created.

My first city of which I was going to research was Chelsea, Massachusetts. I have spent a month chasing around an animal control officer with no returned phone calls or e-mails. After running into him in person and explaining once again what I was looking for, he informed that that animal control does not keep logs of calls they receieve or what they respond to. (Would it have been that hard to reply to the e-mails saying that?)I find it hard to believe that there are no records on what they do, because for all their employers knows they could be sitting on their butts all day ignoring calls.

I am going to attempt to get in contact with another city's animal control department to see if this is the way every animal control is run. While I am doing this I am going to be contacting several animal rescue leagues to see if they possibly have records of where their animals came from and if there are call logs. I believe this may be a better option because seeing as many animal rescue leagues are run by donations I would think they need to keep tabs on everything... or at least I hope so!

Seminar Proposal

Jennifer O’Brien
Spring 2010
Seminar Proposal

Originally for my senior seminar project I wanted to focus on abandonment issues surrounding animals in shelters and rescue leagues with the possibility of expanding the abandonment to include buildings and people. I was going to photograph abandoned animals and find out their background and what brought them to that particular shelter. Through discussing this I realized that I would become bored with this idea within two months. So I am going to go deeper than just the idea of “Help these animals out”.

I am going to pick a few surrounding towns and research their animal control department. I am going to attempt to get access to files or documents they have regarding calls they receive, what type of animal the call is for, and what area of the town they get the most calls from. I want to delve into the demographics of each individual area. Is it possible that more calls come in for strays in the poorer parts of town due to limitations on money? I only thought of this concept yesterday so I have not done much in-depth research for designers and artists although one designer has been mentioned to me- Edward Tufte. I searched through his website but it only includes very small imagery so I could not get a good look at it, but I have requested several of his books as a starting point for my researching graphs and maps.

I am thinking of combining all of the information I collect into a map or graph of some sort. I am normally very bad with understanding graphs or creating graphs, so this seminar project will help me with better understanding them seeing as I will be creating them. Maybe after I have made a few preliminary graphs or maps I will think of a way to take the presentation in a different direction. I became inspired to go with mapping out information or creating time lines through my final project for Design Stories. I collected information for two hours in front of a bar and compiled all of this information into a timeline. Everything was organized and separated so there was no confusion as to what the viewer was being presented with. I got the idea to do this from the designer Nicholas Felton. He documents his entire year through note taking and creates an annual report of his life for that past year.

Ideally I would like my final piece to be a book containing all of the information I have gathered and the maps or graphs I will create. I plan to spend my summer collecting all the information for several different towns. I’m thinking of even possibly trying to set something up so I can accompany an Animal Control officer for a day so I can have an actual experience of the information I am collecting.