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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn Act of Dog - An Artist's Effort to Foster Compassion (worth reading)
(cross-posted in the Lounge and Pets forums)
An Act of Dog is building a forever fund and 100% of the donations go towards the salvation of shelter animals.
You can donate to his shelter efforts: http://anactofdog.org/collections/donate
Please spread this message on your various social media outlets - Facebook or whatever. Thanks.
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http://www.dailygood.org/story/847/an-act-of-dog-an-artist-s-effort-to-foster-compassion-michelle-burwell/
Artist Is Painting 5,500 Euthanized Shelter Dogs to Cultivate Compassion
MICHELLE BURWELL JUL. 2, 2014
5,500 dogs; thats the estimated number of shelter dogs killed every day in the U.S. About one every 15- 16 seconds. But one artist is hoping to change those statistics by cultivating a new generation built on compassion.
Artist Mark Barone use to spend his time revitalizing cities ravished by blight. Now he has given up everything to paint 5,500 portraits of euthanized dogs in order to memorialize their life, illustrate the enormity of the loss each day, and to halt the practice. The undertaking was bigger than he could have ever imagined. When hes finished, he will have painted a surface area over half the size of the Sistine Chapel. And Michelangelo had assistants, Mark added.
But Mark knows that no-kill shelters work. Because, he says, when killings no longer an option, people become resourceful. So in the fall of 2011, Mark and his girlfriend Marina Dervan, gave up their entire lives, moved across the country to Louisville, Kentucky and began dedicating all of their time, energy and money into what would become An Act of Dog. Mark is in the studio painting everyday, seven days a week, an average of 10 dogs a day. Each portrait, which includes the dogs name and why they died, is painted onto a 12×12 inch wood panel. As of today hes painted over 4,800 and on track to complete all 5,500 by this fall.
tblue37
(65,340 posts)Maybe he could do cats after he finishes the dog portraits. Then ferrets, rabbits, and ducks, since they end up in shelters waiting to be killed because irresponsible people don't understand that a living being is not a temporary toy to grace an Easter basket or a short-term science experiment so their kids can witness "the miracle of birth" by way of litters of young that will be dumped at the shelter as soon as they are weaned.
Flaxbee
(13,661 posts)Thanks for the reply, tblue37.
Polly Hennessey
(6,796 posts)I just donated. Thanks for letting me know about this. Polly
Flaxbee
(13,661 posts)I like the idea of a museum devoted to compassion.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)Bless Mark Barone for this.
And thanks for posing it, Flaxbee.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)We can all help to educate our family, friends & neighbors to spay and neuter their pets. That is the best way to cut down on these beautiful animals being killed in shelters. I have two feral cats ready to go to get fixed tomorrow. One will be returned to the feral colony and the other little kitten is going to her forever home tomorrow! They are both gorgeous Bengal cats, we assume mother and daughter, and the mother must have gotten out of someone's home. A rare, purebred cat doesn't just show up by accident. But sadly, she's been out too long and now has to live on the streets. But the kitten is not afraid of people yet and will make a gorgeous pet.
But so many people think that treating pets badly or abandoning them is ok, because they're just animals. Or they think they can survive out on the streets or in the wild. It's so heartbreaking to see how many pets are euthanized every day. This is a wonderful organization.
GReedDiamond
(5,312 posts)...the paintings are well done and very compelling.
I kicked in a few bucks, wish I had more to give.