by Eric S. Greene

Here’s a treat for all those who care deeply about dogs and civic engagement: photographer Shannon Johnstone’s original, poetic photographic essay, Landfill Dogs. Published in 2013 to critical acclaim (we included one of her photographs in our developing Photography Gallery), this series of photographic portraits deserves continued attention from those who love animals and those organizations committed to their support – especially during this season of reflection and gift-giving (scroll to the end of the article for purchase information).

The Green Pet-Burial Society addresses the status of animals in society in life as well as death, our (dis)connections with the Earth, ways in which we honor those who have passed, and how only a relative few animals are remembered and mourned.

Johnstone highlights these themes among dogs whose unwanted-ness marks them for an untimely death. She focuses her lens on the life, joys, and fates of individual dogs within a society that – in the absence of caring families and nurturing homes – discards them.

In an unexpected turn, Johnstone takes dogs, whose future at a local animal shelter is uncertain, to a park created upon a landfill, liberating them for a few hours of fresh air and play. Yet this poignant outing above ground is juxtaposed with the reality of what lies below: the landfill contains the remains of thousands of other dogs prematurely put to death. In this deceptively natural setting, she leads us to contemplate the fates of captive animals who lack human companionship; the stark reality of their unwantedness (which serves as the raison de ne pas être vis-à-vis lethal injection); the meanings we give to death and life; the inequities inflicted upon forgotten dogs; and entire systems of captivity, domestication, and control over animals’ lives and bodies. As importantly, she documents the remarkable reactions the dogs have during a sublime moment of freedom.

We are grateful to Johnstone for sharing her thoughts and process through an email interview with the Green Pet-Burial Society; edited excerpts of which are shared below.