Spring and Easter Photography Shoot With Live Animals – Bunnies and Chicks!!…and why I do not use them.

As Easter/Spring mini session time rolls around, you will notice that there are many photographers out there who offer live animals in their photo shoots – mainly bunny rabbits and baby chicks. I am not one of those photographers – never have been and never will be! There are many, many reasons why I will not do sessions with live animals. Here are some of those reasons:

1. Animals can carry diseases. I certainly don’t want to contract these diseases and I don’t want my clients to either. Baby chicks/ducks may carry Salmonella. Do you know what Salmonella is? It’s gross. People who get this disease often have diarrhea, fever and stomach pain. Reactions may be even worse in young children, including the potential for hospitalization. There is no easy way to tell whether a baby bird has salmonella because it’s carried in its feces. Just because they look soft, fluffy and clean does not mean that they are! Children are prime targets for infection because they frequently put their hands in their mouths. Touch the chick, hand in mouth, voila – Salmonella. The CDC specifically recommends that children under the age of 5 not handle live baby chicks. If you want to read more about this, the CDC has written plenty! Tularemia, otherwise known as “rabbit fever” is nothing to laugh at either. Signs and symptoms of this disease include fever, lethargy, anorexia, signs of septicemia and possibly even death.
2. Children startle easily. Another photographer recently told me that she had once used live animals for her Easter mini sessions. One child was holding onto a chick and for some reason or another, got a little frightened. She threw the chick in the air and its neck broke and died. How awful would that be? This isn’t a fluke thing that happened to only one child – many children startle easily. Why take the risk of something similar to this happening at your Easter mini session?
3. Animals startle easily. As easily as children startle, animals do too. Animals are generally frightened of children grabbing them and even coming towards them. You know what can happen when animals get frightened? They can bite. So here you are at these ‘lovely’ Easter minis with cute bunnies and chicks, and the bunny bites one of the babies or kids. Bunnies are no strangers to biting when they’re frightened and their bites are nasty! And if they bite, guess what!? Enter the increased risk of getting those yucky diseases I mentioned in bullet point number 1.
4. They are messy. Chicks and bunnies do not excuse themselves to use the toilet. And they don’t hold anything in either. They poop and pee everywhere. E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E!!! I don’t want poop and pee all over my studio and I don’t think it would look to great on those cute little Easter ensembles that you dress your children in either. Plus, they shed. The scratch and they shed. And they poop. So they scratch, they shed and they poop, ruining my studio floors and your little ones’ adorable clothes.
5. You need a permit and a license. I know for certain that the USDA requires a permit for photographers who use live animals for photography sessions (not including common household pets). This license also requires an inspection of your studio or session location in advance of your session date, even if you live in one of the few States that does not require a permit. Some States even require a Veterinarian or Animal Specialist to be on site with you during your photo shoot. I would be surprised if Canada didn’t have similar regulations to the United States, though I have to admit I have not researched this much. PETA is constantly on the lookout for studios who advertise the use of live animal photo shoots (especially at this time of year) and have succeeded in shutting down some very large studios. It doesn’t take a lot of deep digging to find photos with live animals on Facebook, posted by both photographers and their clients. Calling in to see if a photographer has or had a permit at the time of the shoot is even easier. If you choose to partake in a mini session with live animals, the photographer you hire should have no problems showing you his or her permit.
6. What happens to the animals after the session? You can’t just throw them away and I highly doubt you want to keep them unless you happen to live on a farm.

These are just a few of the reasons that I do not use live animals in my Spring and Easter mini sessions. I’m sure there are many more reasons that haven’t even crossed my mind!

If you would like to reserve a spot for my WONDERFUL Easter and Spring Mini Sessions (no live animals, but there will be tons of other adorable props and backdrops that will have you saying, “who needs those live bunnies and chicks anyway?”) being held on March 22nd and 23rd, please contact me at LaurenLawrencePhotography@gmail.com.

For more photography and work by Lauren, please visit http://laurenlawrencephotography.com