Kira Stackhouse

I was sitting in The Times Center for the Shorty Awards with a colleague when the 2011 finalists for the Art category were projected on the large screen in the back of the stage. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw @projectdog‘s twitter handle on there!

Immediately, I tweeted to see if Project Dog was also there, and, she was — all the way from San Francisco! It was so great to connect with Kira afterward, and actually meet in person.

Kira Stackhouse, who also runs her own photography company, Nuena, didn’t win her Shorty Award category, but she and Project Dog are definitely a winner in our book for the work she is doing to promote responsible dog ownership. Project Dog works to bring together the world of purebred and rescue rescue dogs through the world of photography.

Her goal was simple, according to her website: find and photograph all 170 AKC recognized dog breeds and their rescue dog counterparts (340 dogs total).

Kira told us last night Project Dog is going well. She was even giving out little buttons that read, ‘I love dogs.’

If you’re not familiar with Project Dog, visit their website and also check them out on Facebook.