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Pets rescued from Bedford Co. home get their time in spotlight

Angels of Assisi has a volunteer photographer take all their pictures

a rarity for animal shelters

October 10, 2010|Chris Hurst | Reporter

ROANOKE, Va. — On a Sunday morning, Vickie Holt is back to work; but here she enjoys every minute of her labor of love.

For the past two years, Holt has come in to photograph every animal at Angels of Assisi. And these aren't your normal Polaroids-- professional photos for the shelter's website to make the dogs and cats seem more desirable.

"It's pretty harsh to say it but its pretty much like product shooting," Holt says. "If somebody's gonna be shopping online for their animal, they want to see the best visual representation of the product possible."

The animal shelter says the snapshots have paid off; since Vickie starting coming in, adoptions are up over 25 percent.

"A lot of people say what they like about my photography is that I capture the spirit of the animal and the looks on their faces and facial expressions," she says.

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This weekend a daunting task continued. Vickie is in the process of giving a hundred of the pets their closeup, all taken from a Bedford County home last month.

When large rescues come in, Vickie can take the picture of well over fifty animals a day, knowing each snap of the shutter brings the pets closer to a new home.

"And you stop when you're just too tired and your feet are hurting and your back is aching and you just cant do anymore," she says.

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