Dive Brief:
- A photographer in North Carolina is shedding light on the reality facing shelter dogs by shooting a photo series, “Landfill Dogs,” illustrating the wretched fate that awaits these unwanted animals.
- If they are not adopted, the animals will be euthanized and buried at a local landfills—an outcome that prompted photographer Shannon Johnstone to action. She began shooting images of the dogs "on location" at landfills, which will be their final resting spot if they're euthanized.
- Johnstone’s work has been instrumental in placing a majority of the dogs she photographs into permanent homes; so far, 108 of the 127 canines photographed were adopted.
Dive Insight:
It is interesting to note that in her own way, Johnstone is promoting landfill diversion through adoption. She said that placing animals injected with hazardous drugs into the landfill is not “good for the environment.”
Johnstone got the idea for the landfill images after the former director of the Wake County Animal Shelter in North Carolina asked her to check out a landfill that he was converting into a community park. She wondered why he was “involved in both waste and animals,” and found out that the county animal shelter is operated by the same management staff as the landfill.
