As part of our new exhibition, In the Company of Cats and Dogs, we invited Austinites to submit photos of their kitties and pooches to be included in a slideshow alongside the works of art in the exhibit. The response has been incredible, with over 150 submissions to date, underscoring how animal-friendly Austin is! Although we couldn’t include stories of the animals on the slideshow, we wanted to highlight a few that were submitted. For this installment of the blog, we will focus on dogs, but a blog dedicated to cat stories we’ve received will be coming up soon!
This is Boris, who was found nine years ago, living on the streets in downtown Austin. He had heart worms and a bad skin condition when I found him, so it took about 3-4 months to nurse him back to health, then we spent about a year training and getting ready for therapy dog work. I’ve had him over nine years, and he’s still going strong. He’s one of the mellowest Chihuahuas ever. This photo, taken in his Bouldin Creek neighborhood, shows that he still has undeniable street cred. – Joyce Bertolacini
This is a picture of “Hop a Long” Cassidy, my beloved, magical, 3 legged wonderdog. She lives in South Austin with my wife, Amy Davis, and me, in the Western Trails neighborhood. She’s slowing down a bit in her old age, but she’s a courageous dog who loves to play and swim and go for walks on the greenbelt, despite having to put in a little extra effort because of the missing front leg. – Jason Steans
This photo is of my husband, Joel Chapman, our chocolate lab, Muddy, and our German Shepherd, Reba. It was taken by our friend Oscar Ricardo Silva in 2011 at Red Bud Isle. About a week before this photo was taken, we’d learned that Muddy had cancer, and it had metastasized. So Oscar, who IS NOT a morning person, met us at Red Bed at 7:00 on Labor Day to do photos with us. This is one of my very favorite photos for so many reasons, but mostly because how I remember how much we all loved one another, and Oscar captured that. – Erin Randall
Our 1-year old Viszla, Bruno (yes, Mars) loves to chase model airplanes in Zilker park, play keep-away, and generally be adorable 🙂 – Britt Menendez
Want your cat or dog to be part of this slideshow? Email catsanddogs@blantonmuseum.org with a photo of your kitty or pooch (include yourself, if you want) along with your pet’s name and neighborhood or hometown. High-res files preferred, but cell phone photos work, too! The slideshow is updated weekly, so keep checking back throughout the exhibition to see your pet!
In the Company of Cats and Dogs is on view through September 21, 2014.