Rachael Ray Brings 'Shelter Cats are Beautiful Tour' to Detroit's Dearborn Animal Shelter

Harper is a poster cat for the “Shelter Cats are Beautiful” tour, which is coming to metro Detroit Saturday. (Photo submitted)

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Daytime television host, best selling author and pet lover Rachael Ray and her pet food brand Nutrish have partnered with GreaterGood.org’s One Picture Saves a Life to bring the “Shelter Cats are Beautiful” tour to Detroit’s Dearborn Animal Shelter on Saturday.

A team of professional groomers and photographers will capture the full beauty of local cats in need of adoption.The program will also provide leave behind necessary tips, tools and equipment to groom and capture the best possible photograph of shelter pets in the future.

Ray donates a portion of proceeds from the sale of Rachael Ray Nutrish to help support animal organizations, which has resulted in more than $6.5 million in donations to date.

Offering professional photos of groomed pets will increase the chances they’ll be adopted, Ray believes. Every year millions of cats enter shelters and often are quickly put into cages, usually scared and dirty as a shelter photo is snapped. This caged photo is what people looking to adopt see, but it does not capture the cats’ full beauty.

“With three out of four pet adoptions starting online, a positive, hopeful portrait of a well groomed animal has never been more important,” according to a news release.

The tour stops at the Dearborn shelter, 2661 Greenfield Road, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 13. Spaces is limited, so RSVP to attend if you’re interested in helping photographing shelter cats and getting them adopted.

To participate, email volunteers@DearbornAnimals.org or call (313) 943-2697 and ask for Mary Sheridan.

The tour also helps celebrate the launch of Rachael Ray Nutrish’s new line of natural cat food called Nutrish for Cats, which is available in both dry and wet food varieties in flavors like Tuna Purrrfection, Ocean Fish-a-licious and Paw-Lickin’ Chicken & LiverABOUT ONE

One Picture Saves a Life is a program of GreaterGood.org in partnership with The Animal Rescue Site, Wahl Pets, celebrity pet groomer Jorge Bendersky, and renowned pet photographer Seth Casteel (author of “Underwater Dogs”).

Since the spring of 2013, One Picture Saves a Life has held eight workshops at animal shelters around the U.S., teaching animal advocates how the transformative power of gentle grooming and compelling photography can help give pets the second chance they deserve. Upcoming workshop dates include August 3 in Port Washington, NY and November 1 in Charlotte, NC.

The One Picture Saves a Life website also offers videos and tips volunteers can use anytime to learn some of the key techniques from the workshops, as well as an inspiring gallery of before-and-after images depicting these life-saving makeovers.