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.