It speaks so much to me of the power of speaking our truths in a creative way. Here is a person who doesn't consider herself an artist, and yet she made an incredibly powerful and simple art piece that affected everyone who saw it.
She was speaking in front of the Santa Cruz City Council about a mandatory spay & neutering ordinance. She had worked in an animal shelter and had to perform euthanasia on unwanted animals. When she shared her experience of what that was like, it brought tears to my eyes. So many of these animals could have lived long, healthy lives, but due to the fact that they were older, or had a cold, or just couldn't get adopted quickly enough, they had to be put to sleep.
Every animal had a paper collar around its neck, and she saved many of them. When she spoke in front of the City Council, she brought these collars, connected together, and had people hold them around the room. What a powerful message!
I know that she didn't intend for the linked collars to be an art piece, but that is exactly what it was! And through that powerful piece, community was formed around this important ordinance. We really have no idea what 100 or 200 or 300 animals looks like when we are looking at a number on paper - but to see linked collars of various sizes with tufts of hair still stuck on them...that really brings the truth and the reality to the forefront.
Currently before the California State Assembly is AB 1634, otherwise known as the California Healthy Pets Act, a mandatory spay/neuter bill with exemptions for elderly, sick, service, sporting, or show dogs, among others. Find out more.
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