I Photograph Critters Rescued From Labs Like Children’s Book Characters To Help Them Find Their Happy Endings

Every year I help Italian charity "La Collina dei Conigli" with my pictures to raise awareness and funds about their activities. La Collina dei Conigli rescues rabbits, mice, rats and Guinea pigs who were used as "test subjects" in labs; when they are fully recovered (sometimes it takes years), volunteers look for a new forever-home where they can finally live free and loved.

I'm not a professional photographer (I work in the Communications field), but photography is my passion together with animals, so I'm always honored and very, very happy to help this amazing charity with my pictures! I'm also a proud member of HeArts Speak international network of photographers for animals.

After Alice in Wonderland and The Little Prince, this year the theme of the photosession were children books and fairytales, because they teach us that we can reach a happy ending even through hard times and that each of us can be a hero. It took more or less 12 hours to have all the pictures taken (and a lot of time to create and find scene objects, even with other volunteers' help!).

My little models were amazing: sweet paralysed Guinea pig Paquita agreed to play the Little Mermaid in change of some sweet tomato slices, eleven little mice were involved in sewing Cinderella's dress while finding tasteful drops of soy yogurt around the set, New Zealand Opicina tasted for the first time the feel of grass and sunrays while modelling for the Secret Garden's scene, as it was her first day outside a cage...

My hope is that my pictures can help to spread the world and the work of La Collina dei Conigli and that adoption, the real happy end for my wonderful models, can finally be written! The results are featured in 2017 calendar of La Collina dei Conigli, which you can buy to support the charity.

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