The Love List 2016
10 inspiring locals on passion, love and Cincinnati
Love. It’s in the air — as the theme of the Super Bowl halftime show, in all the Jared the Galleria of Jewelry commercials on TV and in the email newsletters you’re receiving from every retailer at which you’ve ever shopped. But as much as some complain that Valentine’s Day is a commercial holiday created by greeting card companies, it’s also a nice time to stop and think about what love really means — as they say, it’s all you need and it makes the world go round.
CityBeat’s 2016 Love List will introduce you to, in a strictly platonic way, 10 passionate Cincinnatians in various service, creative and philanthropic industries who have turned what they love into their lifestyles. These are portraits of lovable locals striving to make a difference in the world by pursuing a path that celebrates the best in humanity — art, music, kindness, creativity and the ability to dream. By focusing on why they love what they do, why they love Cincinnati and why they love their lives in general, we can explore the multi-faceted meaning of love and how passion can drive change in our community and the world at large.
— Maija Zummo, Project Editor
Read the full issue here | Originally published Feb. 10, 2016
Carolyn Evans // Photo: Jesse Fox
TITLE: Founder and event organizer of My Furry Valentine; owner of PhoDOGrapher pet photography studio
HOMETOWN: Chicago
WHY WE LOVE HER: For her drive to lead the animal adoption revolution in Cincinnati and change the conversation about what we can do as a society to end shelter euthanasia.
Carolyn Evans lives her life by two mottos:
“I want to be the person my dog thinks I am” and “Activism is the rent I pay for living on the planet.”
Evans, the founder and organizer of this weekend’s My Furry Valentine event, has devoted her life to advocating for animal welfare through work with local nonprofits, focusing on reducing euthanasia in shelters. She also celebrates and photographs the unique bond between humans and their pets as the PhoDOGrapher — an endeavor she began more than a decade ago.
After graduating from Ohio State with an MBA, Evans moved to Cincinnati as a business consultant, but today refers to herself as a “full-time, professional volunteer.” She created her first animal-inspired nonprofit, Happy Tails, about 20 years ago, combining her business acumen with her photography skills by profiling adoption success stories from local rescues and shelters, highlighting the benefits of an "adopt-don’t-shop" mentality. She then moved on to photographing animals set for euthanasia at local shelters, which helped her forge ties with the local animal welfare community.
“I started realizing I could be more effective if I gave those animals a face and a voice,” she says.
She began hosting small adoption events here and there and joined the board of the United Coalition for Animals, where, as president, she helped open their low-cost spay and neuter clinic. Providing these operations at an affordable cost works toward UCAN’s goal of reducing accidental or unwanted births, which often lead to abandonment, neglect, abuse and an increase in shelter euthanasia rates.
Evans dreamed up My Furry Valentine as the next progression in her mission during a No Kill group meeting, an organization that adheres to the tenants of Nathan Winograd, a former SPCA director, author of Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation & The No Kill Revolution in America and leader of the No Kill movement. “One of the tenants of No Kill is to have a big adoption event,” she says. “I knew I had the skill set to do it, so I said, ‘This is my next calling, I need to do this.’ ”
My Furry Valentine launched in 2012 and has seen more than 2,000 animals get adopted over four years, with more than 700 adoptions last year alone. This year’s event, held at the Sharonville Convention Center, will feature more than 700* adoptable pets — dogs, cats, birds, reptiles and other small critters — from more than 40 different rescue and shelter groups from around Greater Cincinnati.
Evans says the goal of My Furry Valentine is to help educate the public about adoption by teaching them how to adopt; making adoption more accessible; highlighting the differences between shelters and rescues; and bringing those organizations together in one place to work together and show just how many different types of animals are available. Evans says pet overpopulation isn’t an impossible problem, and there are attainable ways to end shelter euthanasia, mega adoption events being one of them.
“My Furry Valentine is really about bringing people together for a common mission,” she says. “I love when, at the end of the event, the dogs from the shelter that are ready to go back to an uncertain fate, I love when the rescues say, 'We just did all our adoptions; we’ll take them before they even leave the facility.' That’s what we try to encourage.”
What aspects do you love about your job?
I love being able to work with a group of people that are passionate about the same things I am and knowing we’re making a tangible difference — a life-saving difference. That’s the biggest thing. I like being able to help the rescue and shelter people who are doing the hard work every day and being able to support their efforts. At the same time, I love seeing that all come together so we’re a stronger force and able to communicate our message and effect change.
Name someone that inspires you and tell us why.
I would say Nathan Winograd, because he’s proven that we can expect more of our communities, which includes shelters, rescues and people who love animals, and our elected officials. … If one in four of those who are getting an animal anyway would go to a rescue or shelter, we could eliminate shelter euthanasia overnight.
What’s the best lesson life has taught you about love?
I’ve seen so many cases of animals that have been neglected and abused, and then they get a second chance. They may have lived nine years of hell chained up to a fence, but when they are finally free, they know it and they are appreciative. They can live for the day and love unconditionally and forgive. I think it’s an important lesson. When they are shown the love they never had, they can flourish in it.
MY FURRY VALENTINE takes place Saturday and Sunday at the Sharonville Convention Center. More info at myfurryvalentine.com.
