Western Digital, maker of My Passport Wireless Pro (iTWire review here) and My Cloud Pro storage devices (iTWire review here),  has partnered with prominent Australian photographers to professionally photograph more than 200 dogs and cats in urgent need of adoption.

Shared across social and online channels to help raise awareness of pet adoption, the photos are being provided free of charge to the participating animal rescue groups to help them in their volunteer work. The campaign aims to support each of these shelters in finding homes for these abandoned pets.

“Western Digital deeply cares about the communities in which it does business. I am delighted to have the opportunity to engage the community this way. Many animal rescue groups have limited funding which, unfortunately, may mean that they can only manage to cover the most essential daily operating costs of running the shelter, leaving room for little else,” said Simon Whitford, senior sales manager, ANZ, Content Solutions Business Unit, Western Digital.

“By providing shelters with amazing, professionally taken photos that truly capture the personality of each animal, we hope it helps these organisations find loving homes for these pets.”

There are 11 photographers and eight animal rescue groups participating in this campaign that began on 10 August. Each photographer will spend a day with an animal rescue group with the brief of bringing out the best in the pets. As part of the campaign, Western Digital will also donate $1000 to each animal shelter to help their cause.

The immediate objective is to help animals in need find a loving home, and the bigger picture is to bring attention to the challenge of shelters around the country. Through the power of the lens, the participating photographers can greatly help in achieving awareness, and anticipated donations will also help the shelters in the longer term.

Each of the participating photographers has been provided with a My Passport Wireless Pro storage device to help with their on-site workflow. It allows photographers to instantly store and back up photos from the camera straight to the drive without the need for a laptop. With the My Cloud app, they can display images immediately on a mobile device. All shots upload to a remote My Cloud Pro.

“I was very excited when Western Digital asked me to be part of this special project. There are so many beautiful animals in shelters across the country just waiting to have their story told and what better way than through photography. I’ve been using WD products as my storage medium of choice for nearly 10 years so when the company offered me the latest My Passport Wireless Pro to use while on location at the Dogs' Refuge Home of WA, I was thrilled. I can't wait to use it for back-up, charging and streaming,” said Alex Cearns of Houndstooth Photography.

The campaign is nationwide involving photographers and animal shelters throughout Australia, including:

1)    Daniel Linett of Linnet Foto (NSW)
2)    Jo Lyons of Jo Lyons Photography (NSW)
3)    Ruth O’Leary of Ruthless Photos (NSW)
4)    Helen Trenerry of Ruff ‘n’ Stuff Pet Photography (NSW)
5)    Nick Rains of Nick Rains Imaging (QLD)
6)    Krystle Wright of Krystle Wright Photography (QLD)
7)    Charlotte Reeves of Charlotte Reeves Photography (QLD)
8)    Diana Leventhal of K9 Photography (QLD)
9)    Caitlin Maloney of Ragamuffin Pet Photography (VIC)
10)    Kerry Martin of Akemi Photography (VIC)
11)    Alex Cearns of Houndstooth Studio (WA)

1)    Greyhound Rescue NSW
2)    Animal Welfare League NSW
3)    Fetching Dogs NSW
4)    Animal Welfare League QLD
5)    Best Friends Rescue QLD
6)    Shamroq QLD
7)    Pets’ Haven Shelter VIC
8)    Dogs Refuge Home WA

Some of the results can be seen at WD’s Australian Facebook page.