For many Austin humans,
animals aren’t just pets:
they are family members
Sarah Slaten, Mac Photojournalism
January 23, 2018
People’s pets are essential to their day-to-day lives. One pet owner may wake up to the delight of having a cat on her head. Another is “protected” from the UPS guy or the mailman or feels loved when their cat climbs up on their lap, only to feel a warm substance dribbling down their leg (don’t ask). Pet owners get exercise from walking their dogs or just from chasing them around the house. Though they may come with pros and cons, pets provide their owners with the constant unwavering companionship that we all want and need. They’re very important to to our lives, and we wouldn’t be complete without them.
This winter, photojournalist Sarah Slaten interviewed a variety of people about living with pets. This week’s Tuesday Top 10 tells the meaningful stories of people and (more importantly) their animals.
Lab Report
Cameryn Borman tells her dog to stay put. Max, a Golden Lab, has been with her family for five years. Max has been lovable ever since he was a puppy who could fit in Cameryn’s hand. However, sometimes he still thinks he’s that size and tries to snuggle in a chair with her. “[My] mom… decided to… get a puppy for Christmas.” Cameryn said. “When Mom picked up Max from the other puppies, he peed on her. She laughed and knew that he was the one she wanted.”
The Help
Anya, a three-year-old Calico, lays on Curt Slaten’s shoulder and looks over his work for him. As odd as this appears, it is actually a very common occurrence in our household. Anya doesn’t like to be picked up or pet. The only thing she likes doing (that involves humans) is jumping up onto people’s shoulders and laying there. “I’ve never had a cat lay on my neck like Anya,” Curt said. “It’s great in theory, but painful in practice.”
High-Five
Kristen Tibbetts and her dog Ivy exchange a high-five. Ivy has been a part of their family for five years and is loved by everyone who meets her. Ivy knows many tricks. Some of them she learned from a class at Petsmart that Ivy and Kristen attended (such as jumping through hoops), and some she learned from Kristen herself (skateboarding). “I found her at a shelter, and she was the only dog that really caught my attention,” Kristen said. “I guess when I first saw her I just knew that she was going to be my dog.”
A Perfect Paws
Catherine Beckett hugs Hannah, a German Shepherd she’s had for eight years, outside in front of her house. An energetic and excitable dog, Hannah jumps on everyone she meets. Though she’s getting on in years now, when she was a puppy, she would chase Catherine and her siblings around their backyard for hours. “She was being passed around in foster care to keep her out of the shelter,” Catherine said. “My friend was already keeping her but they couldn’t keep her anymore. So we took her in.”
Stay Pawsitive
While Ben Bowman holds out a treat, his dog Alfie sits obediently and stares. Ben, a second-grader and the middle child of three, never had a dog before Alfie. Even so, he has become very comfortable with him. Ben regularly runs up and down the street with him, as a way for both of them to get their energy out. “He happens to like Ben the most,” said Tara, Ben’s mother. “Ben pets him calmly and doesn’t try to ride him, like JP, or pet him too hard, like Will.”
Early Birds
Cameryn tries to get her bird MJ (on left) to perch on her hand, using bird seed to bribe him. Cameryn has had MJ for three years, and Dixon (right) for one. Cameryn got Dixon so MJ wouldn’t be lonely anymore. The two birds seem to like each other, and MJ is a lot happier now with company. Cameryn got MJ from her uncle, who had a number of parakeets. She had asked him if she could have a baby bird. “My uncle showed me MJ, who was practically a baby,” Cameryn said. “I really liked his light blue colors, so it worked out perfectly.”
Puppy Love
Madison Mitchell talks to her dog, Molly, as they sit on the couch. Maddie got Molly in third grade, and she says has loved her ever since. She still takes Molly for walks everyday, and feeds her as much human food as she can. “I love Molly because… even though she’s moodier than I am, she has this sense where she can tell when I’m upset,” Madison said. “She’ll tone her moodiness down to comfort me. The other night… homework was stressing me out… and she just laid on my bed, cuddling my legs. I even had my homework open on top of her.”
Meow-nificent
Curt Slaten coaxes the neighborhood cat out from under a table on his front porch. Cutie, who is owned by a family on our street, is an outside cat, and roams around the neighborhood looking for food to eat and people to pet her. She’s a little odd, as she will only let people pet her four or five times before she tries to bite them, but she loves her family, and has followed them on their walks through the neighborhood multiple times. Though she’s only around three years old, she has become a staple of our neighborhood, and it’s always fun to see her prowling in your front yard. “The aloofness of making friends with a strange cat is what’s cool about taming neighborhood cats,” said Curt.
It's a Ruff Life
Tara Bowman sits on her couch while she pets her dog, Alfie. Her three sons have been riling Alfie up, and she wanted to calm him down. Tara had dogs when she was a kid, but Alfie is the first one she’s had in awhile. She’s happy to have him, as is the whole family. “We ran into him at a farmer’s market… and I told a woman I loved her dog, and she said “Really? I’m just fostering him, he’ll be ready for adoption soon.”” Tara said. “We knew right away he was meant to be with us….All the boys adore him and would feed him treats all day long if they could.”
Far-Fetched
Harper calmly lays at the feet of Alley Koenig and her dad, Donald. The Koenig family has had Harper for just six months, but she already fits right in. Originally, they were just going to foster Harper until she found a home, but it quickly became apparent to them that they were going to keep her, as they loved her a lot, and she loved them back. They ended up adopting her a month ago. “We went in with the idea of a foster dog to see how we felt about having a dog again,” said Alley. “She was so perfect that we wanted her to be a permanent part of our family.”
Kristen T. • Jan 23, 2018 at 1:12 pm
Adorable! I like these Tuesday Top Tens; it’s a great idea. These are some great pictures and captions.