One of the things that I am always working on is a training series for photographing rescue animals with a large focus on dogs. When a dog comes into rescue someone photographs them to post on sites like Petfinder, Facebook, Instagram, and Rescue websites. Family's looking to adopt will then view the websites and look for a potential pet. Rescue Pet Photography plays a large part in the adoption process. I wrote a blog post about the importance of rescue pet photography. 

There is several ways that I have seen rescue animals promoted. I know that Petfinder.com has search functions and you can find pets by breed, age, location, and other factors. This is a wonderful way to look for adoptable dogs. I know that breed specific rescues often use websites and social media to advertise adoptable dogs. If you are searching for a beagle for example a quick search shows Southern Nevada Beagle Rescue. 

Great photographs is always one of the best methods for capturing the personality and unique traits of each adoptable dog. This is one of the better methods for promoting a rescue dog that I have found. This helps to grab the attention of a possible forever home. 

Facebook-

When promoting it's best to make a folder of "adoptable dogs" and mark each photo with the name of the dog and Available. This way families looking to adopt know if the dog is available or adopted. It's a good practice to go back and delete or rename the photos with "adopted" so that you don't get communication on dogs that have found forever homes.  Facebook offers the ability for people to share photos of the dogs to all of their friends which gets that dog attention to find a home. 

Keep in mind that Facebook may control how many of your "fan base" sees certain posts so it's good to post and share privately as well. It could also be beneficial to spend just a little bit and promote or sponsor certain events or posts on facebook to get further reach.

Facebook Live this is a wonderful option for when actually at a rescue event. I have taken live videos where all I show is the dogs playing in an exercise pen. You can also spotlight certain dogs and talk about their unique personalities. 

Instagram-

Instagram has a few rescues that are using Instagram as a wonderful platform for getting animals adopted. They use hashtags properly and use creative images to capture peoples attentions. I think that you can use this platform to post professional rescue photos as well as candid fun moments. 

Instagram is only photos and videos and a bit harder to add a lot of information but it doesn't hurt to post on there. 

What other platforms do you think would be a great place to look for adoptable animals? 

Woofs,

Rick Vierkandt - Bark Gallery

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