Dying with dignity: Photographer's heart-rending crusade to capture on film the last moments of Taiwan's doomed shelter dogs

By Leon Watson


The photographer gingerly places a small, mixed-breed puppy on a platform in his makeshift studio at an animal shelter in northern Taiwan.

The dog looks around two months old, with alert, trusting eyes and a shiny coat. It has no owner and will not get one.

Once its photo shoot is over, it will be taken away by vets to be put down.


In a makeshift studio, Taiwanese photographer Tou Chih-kang tries to make a portrait of a puppy in the final moments of its life before being put down by lethal injection at a shelter in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan


A dog sits in a cage behind his paperwork before being put down by lethal injection at a government-run shelter in Taoyuan

Tou calms a puppy before trying to make a portrait in the final moments before it is to be put down by lethal injection

Tou Chih-kang has been recording the last moments of canines at the Taoyuan Animal Shelter for two years.

He has captured the images of some 400 dogs, most of which were pets abandoned by their owners. To him the work is distressing, but he's trying to spread a message of responsibility.

'I believe something should not be told but should be felt,' says Tou, a thick-bodied 37-year-old with an air of quiet confidence.

'And I hope these images will arouse the viewers to contemplate and feel for these unfortunate lives, and understand the inhumanity we the society are putting them through.'

His photographs are similar to the formal portraits - of people - that were taken 100 years ago, designed to bestow dignity and prestige upon the subject before death.

In many of the dog portraits, the animals are placed at angles that make them look almost human.


Death row: Tou Chih-kang hangs his portraits of the final moments in the lives of shelter dogs for a public exhibition - Tou has been visiting dog shelters for two years now


Tou greets a dog scheduled to be euthanised later in the day: He photographs in hopes of educating the public on the proper care of pets

A government dog catchers ensnare a dog on the streets of Taoyuan: The animal will likely be next for the injection

This year Taiwanese authorities will euthanise an estimated 80,000 stray dogs. Animal-welfare advocates say the relatively widespread nature of the phenomenon - Taiwan's human population is only 23 million - reflects the still immature nature of the island's dog-owning culture and the belief among some of its majority Buddhist population that dogs are reincarnated humans who behaved badly in a previous life.

It would seem, judging by the many stores in Taiwan that sell fancy dog clothes and other baubles, as if Taiwanese fawn over their animals, and some do. But others abandon pets to the streets once their initial enthusiasm cools.

'Animals are seen just as playthings, not to be taken seriously,' says Grace Gabriel, Asia regional director of the Massachusetts-based International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Activists say that some 70 per cent of dogs in Taiwanese shelters are killed after a 12-day waiting period, despite government efforts to find them homes. Gabriel says dogs in U.S. shelters are less likely to be euthanised, though millions of cats continue to be put down there each year.


This year Taiwanese authorities will kill an estimated 80,000 stray dogs at 38 pounds scattered throughout the island


Waiting to die: A dog begs for attention at a government-run shelter in Taoyuan

Paws for thought: One more picture of a dog destined to die

The dogs who wind up in Taoyuan are picked up by roving patrols, funded by local governments, of workers equipped with large nets.

The dogs come in all sizes and shapes. Some are young and active, others grizzled, listless and battered. After Tou photographs them, veterinary workers take them for a brief turn around a grassy courtyard before leading them into a small, clinical-looking room where they are killed by lethal injection.

Tou, who uses the professional name Tou Yun-fei, says he began his project because the Taiwanese media were not paying enough attention to the dogs' plight. He says he doesn't believe in having pets, but the problem had long plagued his conscience.


Tou has made more than 400 human-like portraits over the last two years


Taiwanese photographer Tou Chih-kang hangs his portraits of the final moments in the lives of shelter dogs for a public exhibition in Taoyuan

Sleeping dogs: A nurse prepares the room used to euthanise dogs
He says that while some of his friends refuse to even look at his photographs, others say the images taught them to take pet ownership more seriously.

A handful of the some 40,000 dog pictures Tou has taken are due to be exhibited this August in his first full-scale show, at the Fine Arts Museum in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.

A few photos already are on display at Taoyuan city hall, part of a bid to raise citizens' awareness of the responsibilities that come with raising a pet.

'I am a medium that through my photography, more people will be aware of this issue,' he says. 'I think that's my role.'


Choosing his portraits: Tou identifies dogs on a manifest that are to be killed later that day


The leashes of dogs put down that day hang from a metal fence outside one of the city's shelters


source:dailymail