Pet portrait fundraiser helps Western Alaska dogs reunite with families

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Photographer and self-proclaimed “pet-ographer” David Jensen held a pet portrait fundraiser at Alaska Mill & Feed Saturday.

The event helped raise proceeds to help families displaced by former Typhoon Halong to reunite with their pets, some of which were left behind during the evacuations.

“We’re hoping that today’s donations will help feed the dogs that are being fostered right now,” Jensen said. “We’re hoping that we can help bring some veterinary care. And also, most important, is to reunite the dogs who have been displaced from their families.”

Jensen said he partnered with Alaska Rural Veterinary Outreach for the project.

For Jensen, a 36-year “pet-ography” veteran and owner of David Jensen Photography, his inspiration came from a similarly destructive event in Alaska’s past.

“The last time I remember such an event happening was in 1964 during the Great Alaska Earthquake,” he recalled. “I saw the community come together. And I see this as a very similar situation where families in Western Alaska are not nearly as fortunate as I was in 1964. They don’t even have homes to go back to, and their dogs are missing.”

In total, Jensen said that the event provided photographs for over eighty dogs, plus one rabbit.

Jensen said that since these recovery efforts are ongoing, he already hoping to do a second pet portrait fundraiser within the next few months.

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