IT'S A DOG'S LIFE

Originally published January 24, 2009

Freddie Fenech runs the Association for Abandoned Animals, taking care of abandoned cats and dogs at two animal sanctuaries. These photos, the third part of my MA assignment on people at work, were taken at the smaller of the two, where he houses puppies. He decided to devote all his time to the care of abandoned animals in 1979 after retiring from the Malta Police Force where he’d served as a close protection officer for visiting heads of state and countless celebrities. His frustration at the perceived lack of awareness and interest in animal welfare within political parties has led him to decide to contest general elections in four years time running on an independent ticket, as even though animals don’t have votes, animal lovers do. His day is spent feeding and playing with the dogs, cleaning up after them, doing administrative work, rescuing abandoned animals, and following up on the dogs he has successfully re-homed.

Twice a day he gets in his car and goes to see the hunting dog Ruby, who he’d rescued five years ago. Ruby is unwell and can’t walk properly, her new owner can’t carry her up the flight of stairs to her apartment, so Freddie pops over and carries the dog into the house. It’s a promise he made to Ruby and one he intends to keep for the rest of the dog’s life. and though he might break a promise to a human, he’d never break a promise made to a dog.

As with the previous shoots on this assignment, I was restricted to one camera, one fixed focal lens, black and white, manual exposure and manual focusing. As opposed to the first part of the assignment when I shot the filigree maker, I actually found the imposed discipline liberating in a sense – it forced me to think more before pressing the shutter button. I reckon that was the whole point of our tutor imposing those restrictions. Going back to those basics is helping rekindle a long lost, or at least dormant, skill.

One thing I did find on this particular shoot was that it’s not so easy to do a fly-on-the-wall reportage on someone when there are so many playful puppies around – you can’t quite tell the dogs to carry on as though you’re not there, you can’t blend into the background until they ignore you. My being there with them meant they had new toys to play with, my camera and its strap, as well as me!