Adoptable animals get royal treatment
By Woodard, Dale on August 26, 2020.
Submitted photo -
Princesses Aiden Boon (snow sister princess), Karlee Ross (mermaid princess), Keana Funk (Rapunzel) from Beautifully Royal Birthdays pose with one of the animals up for adoption at the Lethbridge Animal Services shelter.Dale Woodard
Lethbridge Herald
Beautifully Royal Birthdays and Lethbridge Animal Services have teamed up to help residents find the perfect four-legged family member for your home.
And they’ve used a photo session with a potential pet-to-be to place unadopted animals into a new household with the Puppies and Princesses project.
Keana Funk, a princess performer at Beautifully Royal Birthdays, said she approached the Lethbridge Animal Shelter at the end of July about combining their services.
“I told them if we do this perhaps we can get some of those animals who have been there for a while adopted,” she said. “We haven’t done anything like this before, but I personally am very passionate about animals. I got my own kitty from that shelter. It was just kind of a spur-of-the-moment (thing) and with COVID limiting what we can actually do in the community right now this seems like something that can actually be both safe and productive.”
And so, a group of princesses headed to the Lethbridge Animal Shelter for a photo shoot with some subjects who were happy to have visitors, even if that enthusiasm made it difficult to get a picture.
“We had it planned two weeks in advance to get there and bring blankets to protect the costumes and to take pictures,” said Funk. “It was the three princesses just playing with animals, and pictures had to be taken constantly to get one that was useable. (The dogs) were so excited and energetic and happy. They were happy to get out and have some playtime.”
The online photo shoot immediately attracted interest.
Funk said she had heard from Lethbridge Animal Services and learned they had received numerous inquiries about the animals the princesses took pictures with.
Funk added many of the animals are in the application process and should be going to a home in a week or two.
“Hopefully it does work and some animals can find their forever homes and hopefully we can keep doing this in the future.”
Funk said Beautifully Royal Birthdays is always looking for opportunities to get involved in the community.
“With COVID-19 that’s obviously limited us, but we’re hoping we can figure out some ways to get involved again and be active in the community.”
Lethbridge Animal Services Instagram page with instructions on how to adopt a dog or cat – as well as a photo gallery for the potential pets – can be found at https://www.instagram.com/lethbridgeanimalservices/?hl=en.
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