Posted: January 10, 2009, 5 a.m. EST
Artist Shepard Fairey, known for creating the Barack Obama "Hope" image, designed a poster for a new Adopt-a-Pet.com campaign that seeks to shed light on the animals up for adoption at shelters across the country.
The nationwide effort features a poster created by Fairey — the man TIME magazine named "Icon Maker" of the year — that's modeled on his Obama "Hope" poster. "The image I created for this print reminds me of a dog I had as a kid, a mutt named Honey," Fairey said.
The poster, which features a dog and the word "Adopt," was unveiled Thursday at the Sunset Gallery in Los Angeles, Calif. Fairey made a brief appearance at the media event and told reporters that he's glad to be able to help shelter pets find homes. He added that the new campaign presents "a great chance for shelter animals."
According to Adopt-a-Pet.com, an estimated 7 million adoptable animals are euthanized in the United States each year. By teaming with Fairey, the goal is to encourage people to go out to a local shelter and adopt a pet.
Dr. Pia Salk, Adopt-a-Pet.com spokesperson, said that adopting a pet means saving a life, and with more family pets being displaced as a result of home foreclosures, there's an urgency to give homeless animals new homes. Now, Fairey has made an icon out of the American mutt, proving that a mutt is a masterpiece, she said.
The "Adopt" dog poster is available for download and distribution at Muttslikeme.com, a website inspired by Obama's recent comment about how his family's new puppy would likely be "a mutt like me." The image also will be distributed to 7,000 shelters across the country to promote the cause.
"On the heels of Obama's comment, I got a call from Pia Salk, an animal advocate who works with North America's largest nonprofit pet adoption website," Fairey said. "Pia simply asked if I might be willing to collaborate on a way to have my art help these animals."
Also in attendance at the unveiling of the dog image were several shelter dogs that are in need of homes, including a Rottweiler from Beagles & Buddies in El Monte, Calif., a no-kill adoption agency.