Animal Advocate

JEANNE TAYLOR of Jeanne Taylor Photography

WRITTEN BY: JULIE MURRAY, STAFF WRITER

Hi all you animal lovers out there! Our Lowcountry Dog Animal Advocate for this issue is Jeanne Taylor of Jeanne Taylor Photography. Her specialty is creating custom photography of our precious pets; photos that not only serve as keepsakes, but capture their true, loving spirit as a member of your family.

Jeanne discovered her love of pet photography in 2003 when she came across her first ever instore adoption event and met the dog who would spark her passion for volunteering. She started by offering to redo a local rescue’s website and then began taking pictures of the animals for the site. The word of her excellent work spread throughout the rescue community and led to her working with a number of animal rescue organizations. Over the years she has worked as a volunteer, held board and officer positions, organized fundraisers, facilitated transport of animals and even served as Volunteer Coordinator for a shelter. These days, she focuses her volunteer efforts primarily on photographing and promoting adoptable animals for local rescues.

This journey has put her in contact with quite a few special dogs. When I asked her what her most memorable rescue story was, she told me it would be so hard to narrow down because of all the wonderful animals she’s helped to find a forever home. She ended up telling me the story of Gracie, one of her two Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dogs. In 2017, Jeanne was doing a photoshoot at Charleston Animal Society and met a sweet, shy dog who had spent most of her time being bounced around between several shelters, most recently to the Aiken SPCA. After finding a local resident who was interested in meeting Gracie, Jeanne drove up to Aiken to bring Gracie back for a meet and greet. As we all know, timing is everything and life is full of curves; it turned out that Gracie was not an ideal fit for the potential adopter, so Jeanne committed to fostering her and finding her the perfect home. Over the weeks to follow, Jeanne decided that Gracie was already home and wouldn’t be going anywhere else! (I love a good foster fail story!)

Jeanne’s attitude towards rescue is so positive - she told me that if people want to help animals there are so many easy ways to do it. “Just do it! Don’t even hesitate...there is such a gamut of opportunity - most people know the big 4: Volunteer, Foster, Donate, Adopt. But all the little things that fall under those [categories] are so helpful and critical too; share adoptables’ information, promote your local shelters every chance you get, educate people about spay/neuter and microchipping and other community resources. There are limitless opportunities to support locally and across the globe!” She also acknowledges that animal rescue can be simultaneously the most exhausting and the most rewarding undertaking - but always worth the effort.

During her time in the rescue community, one observation Jeanne made is she feels the lawmakers in our state need to advocate more strongly for animals. “I personally wish they would take the time to create tougher laws regarding abuse and neglect and practice stricter enforcement at local levels.” She recognizes that shelter animals need committed people in their corner, and we are glad to know Jeanne is there!! “Once it truly hit me years ago that a photo can be the difference between life and death for an adoptable [animal], I knew this would be a huge part of my work for the rest of my days.”

If you would like more information on booking a custom photo session with Jeanne, you can visit her at www.jtpetpics.com, or find her on Facebook or Instagram. ■

Do you know an animal advocate that deserves to be featured here? Reach out to contact@lowcountrydog.com

“If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.”

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