Painter and President of Animal Rescue Corps
Scotlund Haisley has devoted his life to protecting animals for the past 20 years. He began his journey as a humane officer in the District of Columbia, and has since traveled the globe coming to the aid of animals in need. Haisley is currently the President and Founder of Animal Rescue Corps. In this post Haisley has tapped into his extensive experience to lead ARC in its mission to end animal suffering through direct and compassionate action, and to inspire the highest ethical standards towards animals.
Haisley was recently the Senior Director of Emergency Services at The Humane Society of the United States. During his two years at The HSUS, Haisley oversaw the rescue of more than 50,000 animals. In his position as the Executive Director of the Washington Animal Rescue League, Haisley designed and constructed a revolutionary shelter facility that has set a new standard for animal care worldwide.
Just a few of Haisley’s career highlights include raising six million dollars for the creation of the world’s first completely cage-free animal shelter, post-Katrina rescues of over one thousand animals, rehabilitation for 11 of Michael Vick’s dogs, a year in India creating policies and operating philosophies for animal welfare groups, and almost three years of traveling the globe to rescue an unprecedented number of animals from puppy mills, dog fighting, hoarding, factory farming, other large-scale cruelty cases and multiple natural disasters.
As an artist Haisley has been inspired by the powerful images of suffering and salvation that he witnesses during his animal rescue work. He paints these images using a vivid color palate to capture the intensity of these scenes, and frequently adds a rustic element to his work by painting on salvaged antique ceiling tins. Haisley’s paintings often focus on his subject’s eyes, which act as a portal to the raw emotion depicted throughout his work.
Please visit his website and Facebook page at: Animal Rescue Corp and Scotlund Haisley Art
Scotlund Haisley has devoted his life to protecting animals for the past 20 years. He began his journey as a humane officer in the District of Columbia, and has since traveled the globe coming to the aid of animals in need. Haisley is currently the President and Founder of Animal Rescue Corps. In this post Haisley has tapped into his extensive experience to lead ARC in its mission to end animal suffering through direct and compassionate action, and to inspire the highest ethical standards towards animals.
Haisley was recently the Senior Director of Emergency Services at The Humane Society of the United States. During his two years at The HSUS, Haisley oversaw the rescue of more than 50,000 animals. In his position as the Executive Director of the Washington Animal Rescue League, Haisley designed and constructed a revolutionary shelter facility that has set a new standard for animal care worldwide.
Just a few of Haisley’s career highlights include raising six million dollars for the creation of the world’s first completely cage-free animal shelter, post-Katrina rescues of over one thousand animals, rehabilitation for 11 of Michael Vick’s dogs, a year in India creating policies and operating philosophies for animal welfare groups, and almost three years of traveling the globe to rescue an unprecedented number of animals from puppy mills, dog fighting, hoarding, factory farming, other large-scale cruelty cases and multiple natural disasters.
As an artist Haisley has been inspired by the powerful images of suffering and salvation that he witnesses during his animal rescue work. He paints these images using a vivid color palate to capture the intensity of these scenes, and frequently adds a rustic element to his work by painting on salvaged antique ceiling tins. Haisley’s paintings often focus on his subject’s eyes, which act as a portal to the raw emotion depicted throughout his work.
Please visit his website and Facebook page at: Animal Rescue Corp and Scotlund Haisley Art
Gigi, the Puppy Mill Survivor - 2014 Sold “Gigi” was rescued by the artist, Scotlund Haisley, and his team at Animal Rescue Corps in 2014 during the Operation Liberty Dogs puppy mill case in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. This piece represents the tens of thousands of dogs who are imprisoned in puppy mills, forced to constantly breed while living in deplorable conditions. Puppy mills are an urgent, widespread problem. Puppy mills are mass-production factories in which dogs are forced to produce litter after litter of puppies. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of dogs per facility live in overcrowded and unsanitary cages without sufficient food, water, grooming, veterinary care, or socialization. There are an estimated 15,000 puppy mills in the U.S. alone and nearly 100 percent of the dogs sold in pet stores are from puppy mills. By definition, there is no such thing as a “humane” puppy mill. Breeding dogs are typically confined to small wire pens with no temperature control, or outdoors with insufficient protection from harsh natural elements. They are exposed to extreme heat and cold, as well as dangerously high levels of ammonia that arises from urine build-up. They most commonly suffer from mammary infections and genetic diseases from over-breeding, internal and external parasites, and extreme matting and overgrown nails. If there is water at all, it is typically filthy and contaminated with algae growth, urine, and feces. Any food present is commonly of poor nutritional quality and often moldy and infested with maggots. These dogs have never known the life as a loved family member and their entire existence is spent in a cage, their paws never even touching solid earth. In “Gigi, the Puppy Mill Survivor”, Haisley creates a visual representation of the brutal suffering and raw hopelessness of a dog used for breeding in a puppy mill with the application of an oxidized effect. Haisley uses a rich, blended color palette of oranges, reds, and browns to capture the dog and her encompassing, seemingly inescapable environment becoming one, offering the viewer a portal into the dog’s desperate world of decay and despair. | Marshall, the Dog Fighting Survivor - 2014 Sold “Marshall”was rescued by the artist, Scotlund Haisley, and his team at Animal Rescue Corps in 2014 during the Operation Delta Dogs dog fighting case in the Mississippi Delta. This piece represents the tens of thousands of dogs in the U.S. and beyond who are bred, trained, and conditioned to fight other dogs to the death in one of the most sadistic and barbaric forms of entertainment and gambling. During fights, dogs suffer ripped flesh, broken bones, and punctured lungs. Death from blood loss, shock, dehydration, infection, and exhaustion is common and can even happen days after a fight. If the losing dog does not die in the fight, the dog fighter is likely to kill him by shooting, beating, hanging, drowning, or electrocution. The dog fighter’s motto is: “Breed the best and bury the rest.” The victimization these dogs endure is not limited to the fighting ring. They suffer in every aspect of their tortured existence, never intended to live as a member of a family. When not in the fighting ring, they are staked to the ground on thick, heavy logging chains, typically 8-feet long. Their basic needs of food, water, shelter, and veterinary care are far from adequate and companionship is nonexistent. In “Marshall, the Dog Fighting Survivor”, Haisley creates a visual representation of the brutal suffering and raw hopelessness of a dog used for fighting with the application of an oxidized effect. Haisley uses a rich, blended color palette of oranges, reds, and browns to capture the dog and his encompassing, seemingly inescapable environment becoming one, offering the viewer a portal into the dog’s desperate world of decay and despair. |
