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Doomed dogs get photo portrait and a run
July 17, 2012, Tuesday
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THE photographer gingerly places a small, mixed-breed puppy on a platform in his makeshift studio at an animal shelter in northern Taiwan. The dog is around two months old, with alert, trusting eyes and a shiny black coat.
Photographer Tou Chih-kang captures the small dog's personality in photos any pet owner would love.
But these are the last photos for the little dog with no name. He has been abandoned, and he has no owner.
After the photo, staff take the dog for a brief garden run, and then back to the lab for a lethal injection.
Over two years, photographer Tou has recorded the last moments of around 400 dogs at the Taoyuan Animal Shelter. Most were pets abandoned by their owners who found them inconvenient.
"I believe some things should not just be told, but should be felt," says quiet, 37-year-old Tou, with an air of confidence.
"I hope these images will arouse viewers to think about and feel for these unfortunate lives and the inhumanity we in this society are subjecting them to."
His black-and-white photographs are redolent of the kind of formal portraits of men, women and children that were taken 100 years ago, designed to show the subject with dignity.
In many portraits, the animals are positioned at such angles that they appear almost human.
This year Taiwan authorities will euthanize an estimated 80,000 stray dogs. Animal-welfare advocates say the relatively widespread nature of the abandoned dog phenomenon - Taiwan's human population is only 23 million - shows that the island's dog-owning culture is immature. It also reflects the belief of some of the majority Buddhist population that dogs are the reincarnations of humans who behaved badly in another life.
It would seem, judging by the many stores in Taiwan that sell fancy dog clothes and accessories, as if Taiwanese fawn over their animals. Some do. But others abandon pets to the streets once the initial enthusiasm cools and children don't want to be responsible to feed, water, walk, train, groom and play with the pet.
"Animals are seen just as playthings, not to be taken seriously," says Grace Gabriel, Asia regional director of the Massachusetts-based International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Activists say that around 70 percent of dogs in Taiwan shelters are killed after a 12-day waiting period, despite government efforts to find them homes. Gabriel says dogs in US shelters are less likely to be euthanized, though millions of cats continue to be put down each year.
The dogs who wind up in Taoyuan are picked up by roving patrols using large nets; the patrols are funded by local governments. The dogs come in all sizes and shapes. Some are young and active, others grizzled, listless and battered.
Tou, who uses the professional name Tou Yun-fei, says he began his project because the local media were not paying enough attention to the dogs' plight. He says he doesn't believe in having pets, but the problem bothered him for a long time.
Some of his friends refuse to even look at his photos, while others say the pictures made them take pet ownership more seriously.
Some of the best pictures Tou has taken will be exhibited in his first full-scale show next month at the Fine Arts Museum in the southern city of Kaohsiung.
A few photos are on display at Taoyuan City Hall, in an effort to raise awareness and remind people of the responsibilities of pet ownership. Tou observes: "I am a medium who uses photography to make more people will be aware of this issue. That's my roll."
Photographer Tou Chih-kang captures the small dog's personality in photos any pet owner would love.
But these are the last photos for the little dog with no name. He has been abandoned, and he has no owner.
After the photo, staff take the dog for a brief garden run, and then back to the lab for a lethal injection.
Over two years, photographer Tou has recorded the last moments of around 400 dogs at the Taoyuan Animal Shelter. Most were pets abandoned by their owners who found them inconvenient.
"I believe some things should not just be told, but should be felt," says quiet, 37-year-old Tou, with an air of confidence.
"I hope these images will arouse viewers to think about and feel for these unfortunate lives and the inhumanity we in this society are subjecting them to."
His black-and-white photographs are redolent of the kind of formal portraits of men, women and children that were taken 100 years ago, designed to show the subject with dignity.
In many portraits, the animals are positioned at such angles that they appear almost human.
This year Taiwan authorities will euthanize an estimated 80,000 stray dogs. Animal-welfare advocates say the relatively widespread nature of the abandoned dog phenomenon - Taiwan's human population is only 23 million - shows that the island's dog-owning culture is immature. It also reflects the belief of some of the majority Buddhist population that dogs are the reincarnations of humans who behaved badly in another life.
It would seem, judging by the many stores in Taiwan that sell fancy dog clothes and accessories, as if Taiwanese fawn over their animals. Some do. But others abandon pets to the streets once the initial enthusiasm cools and children don't want to be responsible to feed, water, walk, train, groom and play with the pet.
"Animals are seen just as playthings, not to be taken seriously," says Grace Gabriel, Asia regional director of the Massachusetts-based International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Activists say that around 70 percent of dogs in Taiwan shelters are killed after a 12-day waiting period, despite government efforts to find them homes. Gabriel says dogs in US shelters are less likely to be euthanized, though millions of cats continue to be put down each year.
The dogs who wind up in Taoyuan are picked up by roving patrols using large nets; the patrols are funded by local governments. The dogs come in all sizes and shapes. Some are young and active, others grizzled, listless and battered.
Tou, who uses the professional name Tou Yun-fei, says he began his project because the local media were not paying enough attention to the dogs' plight. He says he doesn't believe in having pets, but the problem bothered him for a long time.
Some of his friends refuse to even look at his photos, while others say the pictures made them take pet ownership more seriously.
Some of the best pictures Tou has taken will be exhibited in his first full-scale show next month at the Fine Arts Museum in the southern city of Kaohsiung.
A few photos are on display at Taoyuan City Hall, in an effort to raise awareness and remind people of the responsibilities of pet ownership. Tou observes: "I am a medium who uses photography to make more people will be aware of this issue. That's my roll."
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