Pics help with adoption

Cheri Moland is putting her talent where her heart is.

“I own mostly adopted animals – three dogs and three cats,” she said. “When I adopted a hound dog and a cat from Julia’s Jungle a no-kill privately owned animal adoption facility, I thought there might be a way my new pet card line could help get pets adopted.”

Moland, owner of The Card Bard, and designer of the company’s cards, volunteers her talent and time to the adoption center at Julia’s Jungle, a no-kill privately-owned animal adoption facility, where she photographs pets waiting for adoption.

Mostly, she photographs animals that are less-likely to find a home, she said.

After the photography session, Moland works on an engaging way of incorporating the pet’s personality into her card design. Some of her designs feature a cat with Christmas lights, a pup decked out with new duds, and a smiling dog with a holiday wreath around his neck.

“She finds the perfect image for every pet,” said Dr. Julia Leese, owner of Julia’s Jungle. “I don’t know how she does it. There’s no way she actually knew the pets before she came out, or what their personality was like. In fact, people who’ve adopted from us, have noted that their picture is exactly what their pet is like when they get it home.”

Moland’s creations go home with owners of newly adopted pets. Moland hopes the families use her creations as holiday cards or even pet announcements. “Lots of people wait until the last minute,” she said. “This way they can pick up their Christmas cards with their new pet.”

One cat Moland recently photographed had been waiting six months for a home when it was adopted.

“The card really showed her personality,” said Moland. “She was full of it, but in a plain-gray wrapper” of fur. The cards help show what great animals they are.

Though the cards are Christmas-based now, Moland plans to launch a pet greeting-card line.

“This has helped in several ways,” said Leese. “Now we have Christmas cards with our pets displayed on the counter.” People tend to pick them up; people who aren’t even looking for pets may say, “Well, let me see this pet.”

So far, two animals have been adopted by folks who weren’t expecting to adopt.

Neither the recently adopted animals were on the Christmas cards, but when people looked at the pet cards, they wanted to look around the adoption facility, Leese said.

Mike Knedlhans, customer service and kennel associate at Julia’s Jungle, loves his work because “it’s all about the animals here,” he said. “You can have the best day or the worst day, but at the end of it, that dog is still going to come running to you, wagging his tail.”

Knedlhans tries to save animals at other shelters that are in danger of being euphonized. That usually means bringing hard-to-adopt animals to their facility, he said.

“Currently we have about 25 animals for adoption,” he said, “including dogs, cats, puppies and kittens. The pet cards seem to really help. Pretty much everyone who passes through takes one or two of the (designer’s business) cards.”

Moland asked for advice before starting her new line.

“The more people I talked to, the more I heard how a lot of people would like to see their pets on a card,” she said. “Especially a card they send out for Christmas or other holidays.”

Pet cards sell better than the family cards.