Stunning photography has come to the Ellis County SPCA.
Since September 2009, professional photographer Roz Todaro has been contributing her talents, photographing available pets to promote them on the ECSPCA Web site and through local newspapers.
Roz Todaro, professional photographer
Her beautiful portraits of chihuahuas, poodles, boxers, tuxedo cats and more reveal the personality of each animal, helping prospective pet parents make a deeper connection with the available dogs and cats, which ultimately boosts adoption rates.
“Roz’s efforts have been a huge contribution,” says ECSPCA Director Dana White. “Her work requires talent and patience, and we’re fortunate to have her as a volunteer.”
Todaro has been involved with photography since her childhood and graduated in 2006 from Louisiana Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in fine art photography. Having recently moved to Ennis with her husband, Nick, she sought out the ECSPCA as a way to contribute to her newly adopted community.
“I worked at a cat shelter in Louisiana while I was finishing my photography degree. I learned that it takes a lot of volunteer help and donations to keep an organization like the ECSPCA afloat. When my husband and I moved to Ennis, I had to start over with my photography business. It takes time to build up clients, so I had some free time on my hands.,” says Todaro. “Having worked as a photojournalist before, I knew papers would take pet-of-the-week image submissions. The Ennis Daily News wasn’t getting any submissions so I looked for an area shelter online that I could help. I Googled it and found the ECSPCA. When I went the first time, I found out that the ECSPCA submitted images to the Waxahachie Daily Light already. Then I talked them into letting me take over and I’ve been going almost every week since.
“The photos let people know that they do not need to buy an expensive pet when there are many wonderful animals available at the shelter. My goal is to boost adoption from the shelter by showing the community that shelter animals are healthy and well-mannered animals.”
Todaro’s work has received attention far and wide and recently caught the attention of the stock photography company Getty Images, which subsequently signed her up as a contributor for their massive online collection of images for sale.
Todaro has been steadily building up her wedding photography clientele; nonetheless, she makes herself available to the ECSPCA in documenting shelter events such as the Howl-O-Ween Hustle. Her commitment is motivated by a strong affection for animals that she has felt since childhood, growing up on her parents’ farm.
“We had every kind of pet you can imagine. We lived pretty far out side of the city limits: the kind of place where people dump animals. We would wake up sometimes and find six dogs in our yard. Some of them would be in bad condition,” says Todaro. “It’s terrible what some people do to animals, and it’s especially upsetting for me because of all of the great pets I’ve had in my life.
“I appreciate programs like the SPCA. I’m building a business from scratch right now, so I’m not in the position to donate money. Instead I donate my time and talent.”
For more information, visit her website at www.rozphoto.com.