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- Boomer.

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- Hi, I'm Paula Abdul, and these are my shelter dogs, Batman and Nemo.

When I think about shelter pets and the people who work so hard helping them, I think about love.

Their passion and dedication truly helps to improve the lives of homeless animals across the country.

In this episode of Shelter Me, I'm so excited for you to meet some of these inspiring people.

- Smiles on three - One, two, three.

- [All] Smiles!

- [Paula] First is a group of photographers who took pictures of every pet at the largest animal shelter in the country to help them get adopted.

- Here we go, y'all ready?

Y'all ready?

(people cheering) - [Paula] Then we follow a multi-platinum recording artist who introduces new audiences to animal shelters while he's on tour.

- [All] CACC!

- These stories will make you smile.

And who knows?

Maybe you'll bring home a new shelter pet.

Or two.

Please enjoy Shelter Me.

(upbeat music) (people cheering) (bright music) (dogs barking) (bright music) (dogs barking) (bright music) (dogs barking) - We're so excited.

Today is the Seen = Saved event at the LA County Animal Care Centers.

This is the largest one day photography event ever of shelter animals.

(dogs barking) - I just wanna say a huge thank you to everyone who's here.

Today is supposed to be about fun and about bringing visibility to these animals.

And let's get everyone adopted.

(bright music) - Woo!

My name's Christine, and I adopted two dogs from Downey, and the rest of my dogs all have come out of LA County animal shelters, and I just wanted to really come and help them find a new place, a new home, and help out the best way I could.

(shutter clicks) - Every time you go to a shelter somewhere, you just want to take 'em all home, but you can't, so you do the best you can in taking a good photograph of the animal, hoping that he'll get adopted.

(bright music) (shutter clicks) - We have over 200 photographers taking pictures of all of our available animals at all seven animal care centers.

The Downey Animal Care Centers, Carson, Agoura, Castaic, Lancaster, Palmdale, and Baldwin Park.

(bright music) - Hi, girl.

Good morning, Cartigo.

- Good morning.

- How are you?

- You good?

- Good.

So it's about 7:30 AM, and we are getting set up for the biggest photo shoot in a single day of shelter animals.

So right now, we're just getting our photography station set up, getting our info table set up so they can come in, get the information they need, get paired up with a volunteer, and get out there and get to work.

(light music) (dogs barking) (light music) - Smiles on three - One, two, three.

- [All] Smiles.

- Woo!

- You guys are my favorite people.

The real goal of the project is Seen = Saved.

So if we can get more animals seen, get them visibility, they can find homes, and that clears space for more animals.

(light music) - So there's about 135 cats.

So if we start from one end, work our way around gradually, kennel to kennel with all the volunteers.

- Right here.

- I'm actually a photographer by trade, but I do a lot of non-profit work for animal rescue.

I do mostly cats, to be honest with you.

She's like feathers.

A lot of times with the shelters, when you have the intake photos, they're kind of scared and stuff like that.

And it's really hard for people to connect with the pets like that.

(light music) So giving them a good presentation and a good photo, I thought, would be a great way to help pets kind of get adopted, so.

(light music) - Thank you, all.

Thank you, and let's do this.

(all cheering) - The goal is doing today and photographing each individual animal, telling their stories.

(toy squeaking) This is the beginning of your new life.

(light music) - It started at eight.

This, actually our adoption event, is beginning at 10.

And this is fee-waived adoptions, meaning everything's included.

You don't have to pay for an adoption.

So people are lining up already.

(upbeat music) - Woo-hoo!

- There's someone who came from over 150 miles away because they heard about this event and they wanted to adopt a dog.

And it's just so amazing.

This is what we do this work for.

Our staff and volunteers work so hard, they work long hours, and this is what it's for.

To see people lined up to come and get a pet for their family.

(upbeat music) - Absolutely, it was free, it was just wonderful.

So I went ahead and got her papers.

I got her registered, she's got her license, and she's good to go.

- Look this way.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, perfect.

- Yeah, today was really busy with all of the photographers, but when we first put the call out for this project, I was blown away by how many people immediately raised their hand and said, "We'll be there, we'll be there.

We wanna help."

So it was just really about people just not knowing how to get involved doing it.

And I'm hoping that today, them being able to come to all of the care centers and see what it's like.

- Sit, boy.

- Boy, sit.

- (laughing) Ooh.

- There's plenty of animals that need our help.

- Good job.

Okay, thanks buddy.

You were lovely.

Let's get to a home forever, okay?

- I mean, it's not something you see every day, you know?

So I mean, coming together, it's just like a big happy family.

And getting these dogs out and cats are very important.

So this is the start of the day.

(gentle music) - I think it's just my way to help, like make sure that animals get more homes and it's the easiest way for me since I'm a photographer, instead of like donating money or anything like that.

(gentle music) Like Seen = Saved is the name of it, and it's true.

Like I think every time I go on the sites that each animal needs better photos and lighting and just more opportunities to see how happy they could be.

(gentle music) (light music) - We have about 20 photographers here from all over the nation coming to help our animals here.

- This is my first time volunteering in California.

I volunteer regularly at Seattle Humane at home.

(light music) - I'm from Chicago, Illinois.

So coming out here to Lancaster, California to help out with the Seen and Saved photography event and adoption event.

Oh, good boy.

I've learned, I'm part of Hearts Speak, which is a group of professional photographers that donate our time to animal shelters.

I became a photographer for Hearts Speak about two years ago after one of their members came to my adoption group to teach us how to do photos.

Now, I actually have the opportunity to pay it forward, which is phenomenal for me.

Good boy.

Thank you.

(light music) - [Speaker] Down for a little bit.

Boy.

- [Photographer] Okay.

(dog barking) He's beautiful.

- Shelters are full of very creative people doing their best- - And they love animals.

- Yes, yes.

And so really showing that positivity to the world.

(shutter clicks) Yay, that's it.

Okay, we got it.

(light music) (dogs barking) - Hey, hi.

- Once the photographers take the photos, they're sitting here and they're uploading to Google Drive and to Facebook so that these animals will get seen.

By the end of the day, every single animal will have a photo and that new kind of visibility.

(light music) Here at Baldwin Park, there was amazing collaboration between the volunteers and the photographers who showed up.

So everybody was working together, they were really efficient, and they also got really good information on all the animals that they were photographing.

Together, everybody's really happy, and lots of adoptions are happening, which is even better.

- Yes, good girl.

Pretty girl.

You wanna go home with them?

- People should know that all shelters are wonderful, because you can go and get to know your pet.

This one in particular, they were great.

They catered to us practically.

They seemed like they treated the animals well, kept them moving and happy, and very anxious to have them adopted.

- Okay, so what we're doing is we spent an hour or so photographing the animals that are available for adoption.

And so now, we are downloading them onto our computers.

We're doing a little bit of editing, and we're uploading them to the main site where county volunteers are taking them and putting them on the seenequalsaved.com page so everybody can see them and hopefully come down and adopt today - We like having the older dogs or the ones with disabilities because we like to give the homes that they don't usually get, because they're ones that we usually hear about are getting put down and whatnot.

- We met him a little over a week ago and kept coming to visit and couldn't resist coming back.

And here we are adopting him.

So, I mean, how could you not love this big foot?

- So it's good news.

Very, very good.

And I appreciate you guys taking him.

(all laughing) Yes.

Excited.

- [Speaker] Oh, he wants to play.

- Here, shake.

Oh, sweet dog.

(light music) (shutter clicking) (gentle music) - We've had an amazing day with adoptions.

We've made a lot of homeless animals no longer homeless today, which is really the goal.

And we're so excited.

(light music) - Beautiful portraits help animals get adopted.

All right, thank you very much.

(light music) - Today showed the real truth about our LA County Animal Care Centers.

That we have incredible people, we have incredible volunteers, we have incredible animals.

And the community came together and made that happen.

- I think this was a huge success, and I think we'd all love to see it all over the country happening.

(light music) - Yes!

(laughs) (light music) - [Narrator] Now, here's an artist who's been climbing the charts.

This is Max, singing his hit song "Lights Down Low."

♪ Heaven only knows where you've been ♪ ♪ But I don't really need to know ♪ ♪ I know where you're gonna go - We are here in our home in New York.

This is my beautiful wife, Emily, and our beautiful son pup cutie.

- Yes.

- Wink, yes, Wink.

Wink came into our lives a little over a year ago.

It was important, we wanted to adopt, and we wanted to go to the shelter route.

♪ Oh, turn the lights, turn the lights down low ♪ ♪ Yeah, now I'm feeling you breathing slow ♪ We were really brought to Animal Care Center of New York because we wanted to look at rescue shelters first.

They had found Wink, he was abandoned in Brooklyn.

Somebody brought him in, and they had him for about a week.

It was just sort of a fate thing, because now that I've learned about what ACCs across the country do, we're so invested in helping whatever way we can because they need a lot of help.

We figured maybe if we throw a free show at different shelters, just find a way to get people out there.

Just get people to see that these are wonderful places and get them to actually meet the animals.

We want the animals to get adopted, but we just wanna instill the idea that, okay, maybe getting a shelter pet is just as good, if not even cooler than getting a pet from somewhere else.

I tour all year round, and that's really all I do.

I sing and dance around.

And so we thought, what better way than doing what we do and just hopefully, bringing people out for a show to these wonderful facilities.

So today, we're gonna head up to the ACC up in Harlem.

Hey, guys.

(people cheering) - I can honestly say that there has never been a concert at ACC.

For someone like Max who is so busy and who is so popular, to have him come up and come to the shelter and have his fans come to the shelter and kind of say, "Hey, guys, shelter's a fun place to be.

Come see a concert, come see some animals, and get familiar with the shelter, and make it part of our community."

- We got one of our amazing shelter pets here.

Her name is Mrs.

Puff.

And she is an adorable, beautiful baby.

And she is 100% adoptable.

So if anybody falls in love, I would suggest bring her home.

And there's plenty of animals inside, just like Mrs.

Puff.

- Hey, I didn't realize this was such a big cause for him.

But it's something that I can really get behind and relate to.

♪ I'm having a basement party ♪ Whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah ♪ - One more time to warm up, everybody.

♪ I'm having a basement party ♪ Whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah ♪ Let's get it started, baby, here we go.

- Max has over a million followers on YouTube alone, not to mention Twitter and Instagram and Facebook.

And these are people that might not have ever heard of ACC, and now they know who we are.

They know where to come to adopt an animal.

♪ She wants to show me love So they're getting exposed to all the animals we have, all the volunteer opportunities that we do.

So it's just opening up a whole new network with us.

♪ Yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah ♪ I'm having a basement party ♪ Whoa ♪ Whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah ♪ - Max is a really inspiring person, so this whole cause is beautiful.

And it was really great to see all the animals.

- And it was beautiful to have such a positive energy for some animals and just an intimate feel here.

It's nice, it's nice.

♪ No, no, no, no, no ♪ No, no, no, no, no (people cheering) ♪ She got me loving in the morning ♪ ♪ Got me singing in the pouring rain ♪ ♪ Got me wrapped around - Right now, we're on tour, my single "Lights Down Low," we've been going to a lot of different radio stations and playing to festivals, like here in Chicago, we played Lollapalooza, which was unreal.

One, two, three!

(upbeat music) And getting to promote the song, getting to just tour and meet people.

But it's wonderful to get to tour for the rest of the year.

But we really wanted to make time, 'cause it's so important to make time to do things like this, because this is what fulfills me more than any show, honestly, 'cause if we know that some beautiful animals get adopted today, that will make me happier than any show ever could, honestly.

- So this is Zeke.

He's been here since May.

These dogs are very resilient creatures.

They live for today.

When they're loved and given the proper guidance, they become wonderful family members.

They deserve a second chance, and that's why we're so glad that you're putting some emphasis on these shelter dogs, because these kennels are filled.

- Yeah.

- With homeless animals.

And they all need families and they all deserve love.

(dog barking) - Whoa.

(all laughing) - Some families may not be ready to fully bring an animal into their home and adopt, but they can foster.

- They can.

- I know plenty of people who wanna maybe test out having an animal in their home, and it's beautiful 'cause they need homes that time.

- It's the way to do it.

- It's the love that's so important.

(people cheering) ♪ I'm having a shelter party ♪ Whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah ♪ - So when Max came here and did this today, he's just so inspiring.

I love like how he brings awareness to like animal shelters.

He's really good at that and he's great.

♪ Whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah, whoa, yeah ♪ - I think some of the biggest challenges we face as an open admission shelter is the fact that we are open admission.

We have a lot of animals here.

So adopting, fostering, and coming to volunteer, that is all working toward the same goal of saving lives.

And if we all work together, more lives will be saved.

♪ So now you say you take it all back ♪ - The people of Chicago are amazing, and that was so cool today to have so many, such a diverse crowd of people, ages, and races and genders.

And it was so cool that everybody just came and came together as a little community to give love to animals.

♪ You're messing around ♪ Oh, what's it time to do Chicago?

♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Hey ♪ 'Cause I'm not listening ♪ No, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ I see you move your lips but ♪ It sounds like gibberish (people cheering) - I don't think we've all felt this excited with this many people in a long time.

And it's just awesome.

- What a beautiful place we're in right now, right?

It's a gorgeous field.

We're in a beautiful facility.

So you've met so many incredible animals already, and we're so glad you came out today to play with the animals, give some love, maybe you take one home.

Who knows, I don't know.

That'd be tight.

- I've been volunteering for three years, and I've never seen such an event where they're trying to involve people into coming in and meeting the dogs and seeing the facility and exposing the dogs to as many people as possible so they could save them.

- Let me hear it, Chicago, let's go.

One, two, three, four.

♪ I'm sorry Ms.

Jackson (oh) ♪ I am for real ♪ I'm never meant to make your daughter cry ♪ ♪ I apologize a trillion times ♪ I'm sorry Ms.

Jackson (oh) - We were so excited to do this.

We've never done this before.

And hell, he can come back any time.

(laughs) ♪ I am for real, yeah - Max puts his heart and soul into every show that he does.

But because this, we're working towards a goal.

We wanna get people together to see the animals.

It was coming even more from the soul.

It wasn't just to do a show.

It was to bring people together.

So it is always awesome watching him, but today was just beautiful.

- I love ya.

- I love ya.

(people cheering) - Everybody say C-A-C-C!

- CACC!

(people cheering) (gentle music) (people cheering) - We ended this first part of our series here in Los Angeles, and what a beautiful day it's been.

This is so cool.

Hey, guys.

(people cheering) Oh, we are here.

We're at the Downey Shelter.

We got the special, our star Wink over here.

I got my beautiful wife, Emily, and we're gonna play some music for these wonderful people and give lots of love to all of the beautiful animals here at the Downey Shelter.

And yeah, we're delighted to be here.

(light music) - Max fans who will be here at our shelter for the first time and maybe at any animal shelter for the first time, this is an opportunity for them to learn and to see what we're all about.

- High five, mate, girl, yes.

Thanks for coming, my dude.

- Honestly, it's so cool that he's doing this.

And most celebrities don't do little animal shelter shows like this, so it's super unique and just a fun thing, and I'm so excited to be here.

- Let's check these kennels out.

(dogs panting) - Oh, yeah, I think Max is just bringing attention to all the animals that need help and adoption and stuff.

And then he knows his fans really are really cool people, and they wanna help as much as they can.

- Here we go, y'all ready?

Y'all ready?

(people cheering) - Thank you for your patience.

Now, we got some OGs here, baby.

- He's so connected with his audience.

He feeds off of the energy that they have, and it kinda just bounces backwards and forwards.

And it really creates a family in a sense, because everybody's in it together.

Everybody's focused.

And no matter if he has slept for two hours that night or 15 hours the night before, his spirit and his energy and his soul just burst out of him.

And it's so inspiring for me to watch.

He's just amazing.

And his fans love him because he's such a personable guy.

♪ I see you move your lips but it sounds like gibberish ♪ (audience cheering) - So today is a pretty unusual Saturday.

It's very rare when we have a pop star come in and perform for us.

The good thing is it has brought a lot of attention to a lot of these dogs.

Myself, I've already done two adoption releases today.

- Even today, if you're not ready to maybe bring an animal into your home full time, maybe you just wanna come once a week and walk a dog or give some kitties some petting, just something dope.

Maybe there's a rabbit that you wanna give a carrot.

I'm just saying like, there's so many little things that everybody can do.

- It's been really amazing to have all of his fans come out to the shelters, to see them open their minds to taking what they may have thought was a broken dog before to an amazing, loving home and see that they're just creatures that are awesome and lovely and so willing to give love.

So it's been really amazing to integrate music and animals together, our favorite things.

- This is "Lights Down Low," and I'm gonna literally sing it to my wife and Wink for the first time ever, here we go.

♪ Heaven only knows where you've been ♪ ♪ But I don't really need to know ♪ ♪ I know where you're gonna go We did shelter shows in New York, in Chicago, LA.

And what we hope that people are getting outta these shows besides getting to experience some free music and some meet and greets and hangs is to experience love from these animals if they don't normally come to shelters or where they aren't necessarily animal people.

I, admittedly, before my wife was not as much of an animal person.

And now, I'm obsessed with every animal.

And so we hope to convert people into animal lovers just like I was converted.

♪ Can you feel this energy, take it ♪ ♪ You can have the best of me baby ♪ ♪ And ooh ♪ Turn the lights, turn the lights down low ♪ "Lights Down Low" was the biggest turning point in my life, in my career.

And I didn't expect anyone but really my wife to hear it.

I wanted to write something for her.

♪ Turn the lights down low, yeah ♪ ♪ Now I'm feeling you Ironically, it's been the song that's spread the most and connected the most, that it's so important to stand up for things that you believe in.

And "Lights Down Low," and it stands for love for us is.

It's what we will fight for forever.

And so it means everything for my career, my music, and my belief.

♪ And ooh ♪ Turn the lights down low ♪ And ooh ♪ Turn the lights down low Thank you beautiful, LA humans.

(audience cheering) LA Downey Shelter, make some noise!

(audience cheering) - Petco Love Lost.

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