Those of you who have been participating in our Fantasy Pet Photo Clinics at Benson’s in Pittsfield already know Erin O’Brien as the ever-smiling, ever-joking ever-competent photog and computer operator who turns even the most incorrigible pet model into an absolute work of art. One Sunday each month, Erin meets us at Benson’s ready to set up and shoot our fund-raising photos that draw folks from all over Berkshire County.
From our first meeting, Erin understood immediately what it was TASP was trying to accomplish with our mission to keep pets out of the local shelters through pet crisis intervention and mitigation. And by the time we handed her Zippy’s very first Fantasy photo, we were signing Erin up to be a TASP volunteer. Since then, TASP is stronger and so much better off for having Erin on our team.
But don’t take our word for it, take it from Erin: “
“I stumbled across a TASP photo clinic at the Pittsfield Benson’s a few years ago and was so impressed with how patient Steve was with my dogs and how friendly the gang working the clinic was, that I volunteered to help out at future events.
Before you know it I had learned a ton about PhotoShop, how to photograph wiggly dogs, and how to set up and tear down the photo clinic equipment. But more importantly, I had met some of the best people I’ve ever encountered in the TASP family of volunteers. You are all so dedicated, talented, and hardworking. I’m impressed at every event with how much everyone does for animals in their spare time and not-so-spare time…….And of course, I’ve gotten to know some of the cutest, nuttiest, and sweetest animals and their loving pet parents. The regulars at our events are the best for how supportive they are of TASP and it is obvious how much they love their fur babies.”
Not only is Erin a one-woman photo clinic, able to expertly handle every aspect of our process including setup, animal-handler, photographer, computer operator and admin; she is also an accomplished graphic artist with an absolutely joyful personalty that engages volunteers, pet owners and critters alike! Erin has been a volunteer with the outstanding Berkshire Humane Society for years and is a valuable resource to TASP and local residents who may need help navigating the animal welfare world on her side of the mountain.
A devoted pet mom and animal lover, Erin gives her whole self to her dogs: Gentleman Bud and Zippy the Wonderpup. And it’s clear they want nothing more than to be with their Mama, even when she’s not dressed up like one of them. Both dogs are so well trained by Erin they are even welcome at her workplace at Habitat for Humanity. Friends always look forward to seeing the latest facebook post from her about her dogs’ accomplishments and antics.
TASP’s appreciation for Erin just keeps on growing. Now that the COVID nightmare is under control in the Northeast, she’ll be managing our Fantasy Photo Events at local weddings, parties and other shindigs around her area. Stay tuned to our website and facebook page for more news about this expansion of our supporters’ favorite fund raiser that will earn more revenue for local pets in need.
Meantime, keep an eye out for Erin and her incredible smile in the Lenox-Pittsfield area. She’s the person every pet and every human wishes to be around……. and once you meet her, it’s a sure thing you’ll agree.
It’s easy to get a TASP Fantasy Photo emailed directly to your inbox and/or a print mailed to your home. Just send us an email at taspinfo@yahoo.com that includes the following:
Choose your background(s). CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BACKGROUNDS.
Attach your own photo of your subject(s) taken against a plain background. If you have multiple subjects and want them to appear in the same photo, just send us a photo of each subject separately and we’ll combine them digitally. Already been to a TASP photo clinic in the past? We can look up previous photos of your subject(s) from our archives and use them to create this month’s photo.
Let us know how you’d like to receive your photo:
Emailed .jpg photo @ $10 donation
Mailed hard copy print @ $10 donation (Be sure to supply your mailing address).
Or get both for $15 donation!
Lucite® frame for mailed photos optional @ additional $5 (covers cost of frame and mailing)
*Please be sure your email includes a phone number where you can be reached in case we need to contact you.
TASP volunteers will create your special photo and email you an invoice when it’s ready. Payment can be made through Paypal, or you can just mail TASP a check. Finished photos will be sent out within 24 hours of payment received.
With so many challenges brought about by COVID-19 and local losses from rioting, more companion animals than ever need TASP’s help to stay safe and healthy. Bringing our friends and supporters this popular activity ONLINE at this time is our way of continuing to finance our mission, while hopefully creating some much-needed smiles. As always, all proceeds are spent on supporting our community’s most vulnerable companion animals. Thanks for caring!
Right now, many folks are reading this message while still in isolation or quarantine or curfew. You may be wondering how The Animal Support Project will be dealing with the changes in all of our lives brought about by the arrival of the Novel Corona Virus and the Random Acts of Crime occurring here in the Capital region and throughout the state. Like everyone else, TASP faces some challenges ahead. We face a loss of revenue from having to temporarily call off our popular Fantasy Pet Photo fund raisers and our tag sales. Add to this an already-evidenced reduction in donations due to the financial stresses many of our supporters are facing after the State imposed mandatory shutdown of so many businesses in NY and then “vampires” decided to destroy what was left of local businesses. These are realities we can’t get around.
That being said, TASP is morphing to adapt as well as we can to continue offering the most support we can muster with available resources. For now, all personal visits to homes have been postponed. We’ve also had to curtail our activities in the local cities after dark due to curfew and the potential risk to our volunteers. That means no adoption home visits, no visits inside the homes of ailing pets. This is the way it has to be in order to reduce risk of infection or injury to our volunteers and our community. By coincidence, our list of adoptable pets is very small right now and their continued care at their foster homes is perfectly alright until the situation eases. And just because we can’t enter a pet’s home doesn’t mean we can’t help pets who need us. As long as our budget allows, we will utilize all available technologies like video, photos, messaging and facetime to confirm financial need and explore the situations of individual pets so they can be directed to whatever proper professional care we can afford. We can also use video and photos to demonstrate and instruct on preventive care practices to help our community’s pet guardians do the best they can for their best friends.
Our ability to pay for professional veterinary procedures at this time is very much in flux with funds temporarily dried up, but TASP is actively seeking grants for worthy purposes like veterinary care and continuation of our Paws2Protect program that provides free Seresto flea & tick collars to financially needy dogs and cats. We also have expanded our pet food pantry stocking program to serve TEN food pantries across Albany, Rensselaer, Washington and Bennington counties. The Paws2Protect and Hoss Fund programs continue to serve as long as resources remain available and if one of our already-submitted grants is awarded to TASP, we will introduce yet another great program to our toolkit, The Vintage Club: offering vital veterinary services specifically for senior pets.
We’ve even found a way we can still run our Fantasy Photo EASTER CLINICS completely online, with an option for a mailed hard copy photo. So if you’d like an Easter/Spring theme photo of your best friend, just scroll down and click for the lowdown on how to make it happen. We’ve posted details of this new fund raising scheme with sample backgrounds right here on the TASP website, taking orders online and accepting payment through Paypal or by check. Depending on how the reopening of NY State proceeds, we may be holiding our photo clinics online for a few more months so stay tuned!
COVID-19 is an unprecedented pandemic situation that virtually every American jurisdiction knew would occur someday. Even so, it would have been financial and logistical folly for any nation to stockpile the number of devices and supplies needed for this scale of a disaster for the 102 years since the last great epidemic, the Spanish Influenza of 1918. The incident command system shared by local, state and federal agencies as well as 1st responders, businesses, nonprofits and institutions across our nation is the modular, scalable method for efficiently and accountably answering the challenges ahead that COVID presents. TASP will do our best to add our compassion, skills, experience and elbow grease to this response to prevent the suffering of our community’s animals. It’s what TASP is trained to do and we’re up to the task.
We wish all of you reading this a safe and healthy path forward. Please be kind, be brave, be objective and be smart. We WILL get through this and we will bring our animal companions with us to a wiser, kinder world.
