Reigning Cats and Dogs

This story begins with the happy ending.  

The best way to highlight the work of Oak Park’s decided volunteer Gale Liebman and board member Robin Dunn, was to focus on the love between animals and their owners.

The Animal Care League has been finding homes and caring for surrendered and stray animals since 1973.

With Debby Preiser, community relations coordinator, Liebman and Dunn undertook a year-long project to photograph over 30 adopted pets with their people, who also wrote brief essays about (and sometimes in the voice of) their four-legged family members.

Preiser, a member of the Oak Park Photography Club, enlisted fellow photogs Jonathan Miller, Elaine Allen, Henry Berry, and Lisa Howe-Ebright to volunteer their skills. Liebman, Dunn and Tom Van Winkle, executive director of the Animal Care League, recruited friends, neighbors and league volunteers to corral their pets and smile for the camera.

The result is “It Had To Be You,” a month-long exhibit of photos and essays at the Art Gallery at the Main Library.  A free reception will be held Sunday, Feb. 13 in the gallery from 3 to 5 p.m., with musical standards from the Pennies From Heaven trio.

Most of the pets were adopted from the Animal Care League. All are rescue animals.

“This is an uplifting exhibit with a very positive message. There is sadness connected with shelters sometimes, but this shows how happy an animal makes a family,” said Van Winkle.

Van Winkle’s daughter Jessica and dog Freckles share a portrait. So do Liebman and her three elderly cats, Max, Sadie and Dooke.

Miller took Liebman’s picture.

“Three cats are tricky,” said Miller, who welcomed the project as a diversion from his day job as a catalog photographer. “You just have to wait for it and hope it happens.”

Animal Care League volunteer and board member Robin Akers posed with her dog Mamie. About 10 years ago, Akers was driving to work when she saw a puppy running on the Eisenhower Expressway (hence the dog's name), grabbed her up and brought her home.

A few months after Preiser took the portrait, Mamie died unexpectedly.

“She was such a good girl and I loved her so much. I hope people see [from the exhibit] how special animals can be in your life, and how dogs from crazy backgrounds can make wonderful companions,” said Akers, who is currently fostering a dog and kitten for the Animal Care League.

According to Van Winkle, the shelter has a lot of animals in what is supposed to be its slow season. There are about 100 in residence, with 70 percent cats and the rest dogs, except for one rabbit.  The Animal Care League does not euthanize for time or space, he said.

Van Winkle welcomed the partnership with the library for this project.

 “It’s crucial for non-profits to work together” in these hard economic times, he said. He also credited Marion Street Gallery for giving the league a great deal on the frames used for the exhibit.

“This exhibit is more than a celebration of having a pet,” said Liebman. “It’s about the unconditional love, the essential relationship forged between people and pets. It’s a gift to one’s soul.”