Poignant Portrait Series Show Shelter Dogs Moments Before They Are Euthanized

October 27, 2014 by Tiffany Mueller 11 Comments

10:54PM, Taiwanese Public Shelter, Time Until Euthanized: 1.2 Hours

Taiwanese photographer,Yun-Fei Tou, has been working on a portrait project which focuses on very heartbreaking subject matter. Memento Mori introduces viewers to shelter dogs in the last hours of the dogs life. All of the dogs, some healthy, some victims of severe neglect, are unknowingly waiting to be euthanized by one of the government run pounds in Taiwan. Though, that’s not to single out Taiwain, as this type of thing occurs all over the world.

Yun-Fei Tou hopes the images will raise awareness for animal rights, a cause he takes to heart. In an interview with The Independent, he explained:

“These portraits are taken on the very day on which the dogs depicted are about to be put down or mercifully killed in public pounds run by governmental agencies in Taiwan. Utilizing the classic portrait style that originated in the early 19th century with the birth of photography as an art form, these photographs offer the viewer a chance to look attentively into a bleak future. The purpose of this project is to arouse people’s awareness of animals rights. People should view animal rights as a moral issue rather than appealing to emotional affection.”

Yun-Fei Tou graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a major in photography before working as photojournalist for Rhythms Monthly. Since 2009 he has been working independently on several personal projects including Memento Mori, which you can see, below.

10:00 A.M. Taiwanese Public Shelter, Time Until Euthanized: 1.4 Hours

11:38AM, Taiwanese Public Shelter, Time Until Euthanized: 29 Minutes

05:01AM, Taiwanese Public Shelter, Time Until Euthanized: 12.5 Hours

04:17AM, Taiwanese Public Shelter, Time Until Euthanized: 13.2 Hours

12:09PM, Taiwanese Public Shelter, Time Until Euthanized: 1.9 Hours

03:17AM, Taiwanese Public Shelter, Time Until Euthanized: 14.2 Hours

12:57PM, Taiwanese Public Shelter, Time Until Euthanized: 1.1 Hours

[ Yun-Fei Tou via Independent ]

About Tiffany Mueller

Tiffany Mueller is a photographer based in Hawi, Hawaii. You can follow her Twitter here and her personal life here.

« New Zealand’s Hobbit Safety Video Shows Everything Can Be Epic

5 Quick And Dirty Photography DIY’s »

Stacy Kenyon

deep
Lala

More sick than deep.
- Josh
  
  I don’t think it’s sick. It is certainly sad. But it’s a way to force people’s heads out of the sand. Humans too frequently ignore difficult subjects. It’s far easier to pretend it isn’t happening when you don’t see it.
  
  I think it would have been more exploitative if these were pictures of actual euthanization.
  - ziplock9000
    
    Where are these images being displayed to raise awareness. I can’t see it in the article.
    - Tiffany Mueller
      
      From the photographers website:
      
      “Recently, images from this essay have been published in numerous magazines both domestically and internationally such as BUSINESS WEEKLY (TAIWAN) and PUNCTUM (INDIA). In addition, images have appeared in a number of group exhibits, like “Provocation” a juried invitational that was part of New York Photo Festival in 2011.”
joe_average

Poignant. Sad consequence of people buying animals as accessories, unlicensed breeders, and mostly people who don’t spay/neuter their pets. Thanks for bringing this to public awareness in a striking way. I have 2 pound pups and they’re going on 11 years!
Robert Roque

Hurts my heart…….
Amaryllis

I’m probably too sensitive because I cried just watching those photos (then again, I love dogs despite being allergic to them). I can understand very sick, suffering dogs being euthanized, but the ones that look very healthy or just very thin because they were neglected broke my heart.
- Tiffany Mueller
  
  It is very sad. The photos are certainly very powerful and necessary to bring light to a preposterously bad situation.
  
  On that note, not all shelter dog photo projects are quire so heartbreaking…
  
  https://www.diyphotography.net/wanna-know-make-already-viral-photo-project-even-worthy-hint-bring-puppies/
ziplock9000

I think this is just weird. I see no artistic, no documentary elements to this. It’s actually slightly sick.
Swanie River

I live in Ireland and am ashamed to say that the number of dogs ‘put down’ varies from 10,000 in 2008 — 5,500 last year . Racing grey hounds when they can’t work any more just disapear or are killed by various methods , the most inhumane way is to tie them to railway tracks and ———— ! I own three dogs and those photos would bring tears to a stone – so-so sad but this is only a small sample of cruelty to animals around the world ( bull fighting kept alive by tourists ! badger baiting , dog fighting , cock fighting , shooting migrating birds (Malta) etc. etc. etc. We need longer jail terms and fines for people found guilty of these terrible crimes .