These Kittens Took Glamour Shots for a Good Cause

The Chesapeake Humane Society have found a glamorous —yet comical — way to try and get cats adopted during Homeless Animal Awareness week.

Earlier this month, the Virginia-based group posted several photos of employees with cats that the Chesapeake Human Society had available for adoption. The pictures were not typical photographs. Instead, they’re mocked up to look like vintage “glamour” shots that one would have taken prior to the prom decades ago.

Michelle Dumas, the group’s marketing director, talked to ABC about the genesis of the photos.

“We were talking about different ways to get the cats noticed this week. This year we decided we wanted to something a little quirky to get some attention. We all started talking and it just kind of snowballed from there.”

The plan seems to have succeeded, as the photos have driven viral traffic to the organization, and has already led to one of the cats being adopted.

Deborrah Grulke, the Chesapeake Humane Society’s executive director, spoke exclusively to Your Daily Dish regarding the reaction to the photos.

“When we embarked on the photo shoot to highlight Homeless Animals Awareness Week (HAAW) — we could not have imagined this kind of response. It has generated tremendous excitement; we couldn’t be more thrilled. One of the cats in the photos, Trixie, has been adopted.

For HAAW in the past, the staff would take a generic photo of themselves with one of the cats in our facility, add a small bio about the animal, and put it up on our Facebook page.

This year, we collectively decided to be a bit more creative. I’ve been at the helm of the organization since the beginning of October and have encouraged my staff to think outside the proverbial box; color outside of the lines. We’re dealing with a serious subject, but it doesn’t mean we can’t use some unique approaches to deliver our message.

That said, my outreach coordinator, Teresa, and my volunteer/marketing coordinator, Michelle, scoured the internet looking for ideas and came across some ‘interesting’ photos of people and pets (somewhere between Olan Mills and ‘family photos gone wrong’). That was the inspiration. Add a few props, some kitschy backgrounds and we were in business. We did it for fun — everyone was willing to be a little silly for the animals. The response has been incredible and we intend to take this momentum and apply it to some upcoming projects.

Keep watching our Facebook page!”

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), about 1.4 million cats are euthanized every year because they are not adopted from shelters. That’s what pet adoption is so important.