Art and Animals in Harmony by Kennedy

Art and Animals in Harmony by Kennedy - May 2025 Scholarship Essay

From a young age, I’ve always had a strong passion for animals. I have always felt like animals were drawn to me and vice versa. Growing up, I felt the need to be around animals at all times, so I drew my own and displayed them around our house. I loved drawing and painting animals whether it be my own, zoo animals, or even shelter animals. Art became my second passion, and my parents supported my artistic talent from a very early age. My love for animals has helped me decide on a career as a veterinarian.
I started volunteering at the Grand Prairie animal shelter called Prairie Paws in 2023 and I learned more about what goes on behind-the-scenes of animal shelters. For over a year now, I have seen so many animals come and go. One week I’m cleaning kennels and playing with the animals, then the next week, almost half of the pets I saw before, are gone. Across the United States, there are about thirteen-thousand dogs that are put into a shelter every day and about six-hundred dogs that same day get euthanized.
Every day I see my animal shelter post at least a dozen new animals and then there is usually another post that same week that comes out with a “watch list” of animals that may be euthanized by the end of the week due to them being over capacity and the animals being there too long. I try my best to post any animals because I know what happens to them if they can’t find a foster, permanent home, or rescue to go to. For many of these animals, they could be perfectly healthy and be in the shelter for months, but because they were there for “a long time,” they don’t get to see tomorrow.
Although I love animals and enjoy working at the shelter, it pains me to see how many animals come and go each week. Euthanizing the animals not only affects me but the staff as well. One week I came into work and noticed a family outside with a shelter dog as well as their own dog. I could tell all of the shelter staff were very anxious and eager for this family to adopt this dog. They loved the dog and we received good news that he was finally getting a “fur-ever home” as our shelter calls it. Minutes later I learned that it would have been his last day on Earth if he wasn’t adopted by the end of the day. To just think that if the meeting didn’t go as planned, that this dog would’ve been euthanized, is sad. Why do people have the choice to decide what animal can live to see another day and which ones should be euthanized?
In a perfect world there is no euthanasia. In a perfect world there is no worrying about vet bills because my dream is to open a vet clinic with affordable rates so that families will not have to make the painful decision to put their pet down instead of saving their life. This will not be just any vet clinic though. My love of art will transform my clinic into a clinic like no other! There will be a veterinary office on one side, pristine kennels of adoptable, healthy animals on the opposite side, and a gallery of beautiful artwork created by members of the community joining the two sides together in harmony. I want my practice to help give back to the community by giving not just adults, but all school aged students the opportunity to create their own animal artwork that would be displayed in my animal gallery to help raise money and awareness for my no-kill shelter.
Community members’ artwork will be displayed in the on-site gallery and galas throughout the year would allow money to be raised by auctioning off these original pieces, making way for more up and coming artists to exhibit their talents in the animal art gallery as well. In my Utopian world, the extra amount of people throughout the clinic would give every one of our animals another chance for a forever home and off of the dreaded “watch list” for good. At gallery events, community members would participate in some of the clinic’s available volunteer programs that focus on caring for different species, rescue and rehabilitation services, conservation methods, proper training techniques, as well as volunteer at the shelter itself.
In a perfect world, the money that would be raised from joining the two worlds of animals and art would be enough to keep the clinic running successfully. These fundraisers would help spread awareness and give back to my community members to help grow their artistic talent, their love of animals, as well as foster great relationships with local shelters to succeed with more adoptions and foster care for all animals since euthanasia no longer exists.
I can only achieve these goals through my education. I am excited to pursue my pre-vet degree at Tarleton State University through their Zoo Care and Animal Management route. In any perfect world, college would be free and everyone would be able to attend without the anxiety of how they are going to afford it.