Photographer Promotes Senior Dog Adoption

Photographer Lori Fusaro is crazy about dogs and photographs them for a living but had never considered adopting an oldie until a 16 year old dog called Sunny (pictured) entered her life.

Sunny changed her view of older dogs so completely she decided to start the Silver Hearts project with the hope of using her photography to change the perceptions people have of senior dogs. She began work on what she hopes will become a photography book called "Silver Hearts" with a tagline that says "Love doesn’t keep track of years". Once the book is published, Fusaro wants to donate proceeds from the book sales to three dog rescue organisations that find homes for senior dogs.

"My hope is to inspire people to not overlook the old ones" Fusaro said.

I heard about Lori Fusaro and the Silver Hearts project via Today Pets in an article by Laura T. Coffey which can be found here 'No dog should die alone' which you can visit to read more about Lori Fusaro's hopes and plans when it comes to raising funds for charities that help older dogs and you can also see a special slideshow of her wonderful and inspiring photographs of older dogs.

Oldies are a personal passion of mine as well. While I have never adopted a 16 year old dog, the most recent addition to our family was an 8 year old rescue dog. She has brought us so much joy and continues to do so years later. It inspired me to write Golden Oldies - The Joys of a Grey Muzzle. I hope it portrays the phenomenal love and joy that an older dog can bring to your life and you will see from some of the real life stories that I am not alone in feeling this way.

The last words I will leave in Lori Fusaro's capable hands:

"When I look back at my unwillingness to adopt an older dog, it was more about my own selfishness - about not wanting to feel that pain, not wanting to make hard decisions. But every dog is important. Every dog deserves a home. I finally just boiled it down to love. That’s the most important thing."

"The joy outweighs the sadness" says Fusaro. I could not agree more.

By Jenny Prevel