What You Need to Know When Considering Photos with Bunnies, Chicks, or Other Springtime Critters

Springtime is finally here!

You might be considering having springtime portraits taken of your children with adorable animals. Unless they’re your animals, you should never take part in photography specials that feature live animals.

Bell’s Furry Friends Photography is committed to animal and human safety. Part of that commitment includes not offering Easter portraits with live bunnies or chicks. That is unless the bunny or chicks are family pets and a pet parent is present.

Here’s what you should know about sessions featuring live animals:

Regulated

The use of live animals in a photography session, family pets excluded, requires the photographer to obtain a license from the United States Department of Agriculture as part of the Animal Welfare Act.

That license carries with its inspections and other regulations the photographer must comply with. If the photographer you work with doesn’t have a license or doesn’t know these sessions are regulated, steer clear.

Unintentional Harm

Little ones, as well as the animals used in the session, can be harmed unintentionally. Little ones may not know how to hold the animal properly. They can hurt it by pulling, choking, squishing, yanking, or sitting on the animal.

Bunnies, for instance, are fragile. They can have their spines, ears, and legs broken easily by being improperly handled. Likewise, a scared bunny or chick can harm children or other people in the session through scratches, lacerations, bites, and puncture wounds.

These injuries can develop into infections, rashes, or even diseases. For instance, did you know chicks and bunnies are carriers of salmonella? Also, bunnies carry a disease called Tularemia, or “rabbit fever.”

Exercising caution is wise when exposing a child to any animal. Now, that doesn’t mean that you can’t include a small fuzzy in your springtime portraits. It just means that unless it’s a family pet, leave live animals out of the equation.

Bell’s Furry Friends Photography encourages all clients to bring their family pet to the photography session. If you’re interested in booking a springtime session with your pet as part of the happy gang, call 207-356-2353 or email [email protected] today!