I’m sometimes asked why I’d go volunteer at an animal shelter to take photos of animals. Don’t they take photos of the animals on intake, and aren’t those good enough?

Not really. In a recent study by Mary Wood at the University of Richmond, responses indicated that the vast majority of adopters look at animals online and use those online photos to compare multiple animals. In their responses, adopters reported that a photo that shows the dog’s face and personality was very important, as well as showing the dog looking happy. Neutral or sad expressions weren’t likely to sway potential adopters one way or another.

While a lot of shelters do take photos of animals on intake, most of these are done with an animal who is scared or confused. Some of them are still dirty from being found on the street, and many have to be held or leashed in order to get them in frame. It doesn’t paint an appealing picture of what life with this animal would be like for the adopter!

A nice, bright, cheerful photo that shows off the animal’s personality, on the other hand, can drive adopters to come to the shelter and get the cute animal. I have to admit, it’s worked on me – I had to go meet the dog who is now my boy Max after seeing his photo online:

Can you really blame me, though? Just look at that guy!

To download Mary Wood’s study in detail, go to https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/172aRCUJvTDl-OmEEAXKObVIiruaskAvg