Ben Madilynn
Every dog owner knows that the hard, plastic, post-surgery cone is their beloved pet’s worst nightmare.
Is there anything more humiliating for an animal than struggling to achieve basic canine tasks such as eating a bowl of kibble or picking up a stick in the park?
But now an award-winning photographer has turned the dreaded cone of shame into works of art – while raising money for rescue dogs with urgent medical needs – and dog lovers already can’t get enough of the cute results.
The photographs appear in Winnie Au’s new book Cone of Shame, with a portion of proceeds going to Animal Haven‘s Recovery Road Fund.
Au, who has 46,000 followers on Instagram and has worked with Hershey’s, NFL, and Pepsi, most recently photographed star real estate broker Ryan Serhant for his Netflix series Owning Manhattan.
Sebi, a seven-month-old Brussels Griffon, wears a collar made of artificial grass on a plastic base
Waldo the Bedlington Terrier looks too cute in custom wool pom-poms to match his coat
Winnie Au started the project to help pay for rescue dogs with urgent medical needs
Most recently, she collaborated with designer Marie-Yan Morvan to create custom collars made using anything from eggshells and swimming pool noodles to suede and silk flowers, to bring dignity and charm to what is otherwise a grim experience for both dog and human.
‘I wanted to take that post-surgery humiliation – that saddest moment for every pet -and twist it into something beautiful and majestic,’ says Au. ‘I wanted to take the shame out of the cone.’
‘These pics are soooo cute,’ commented one of her followers on Instagram when she posted a sneak preview this week.
‘The world needs this!’ wrote another.
‘You’re killing me with these! So great!’ said one more.
And another commenter said: ‘This is actually the coolest photography concept I’ve ever seen… thank you for bringing attention to our furry friends!’
The project was born out of Au’s own loss of a beloved pet.
Her adorable Corgi, Tartine, was the first dog she and husband Florent had together, and she describes her as ‘a fluffy piece of heaven.’
‘We were obsessed,’ she says. ‘We followed a blog called OCD: Obsessive Corgi Disorder. I found a niche Japanese magazine called Corgi Style that I fawned over. Florent named one of his video game usernames after her. I started a blog comparing Tartine to my meals.
‘Corgi-shaped mugs entered our home. Our friends would forward us videos with titles like “Corgi Flop” and “Corgi Rae Jepsen.”
‘Our crowning achievement was having her named as one of BuzzFeed’s “Most Important Corgis of the Year.” Yes, that’s a list you can get on, and we were pleased as punch to revel in Tartine’s five minutes of internet fame.’
Anges, a Chihuahua-Whippet, wears fetching pink feathers
Silk flowers, leaves, and plants create a regal-looking cone for Blue, a French Bulldog
Olive, a Miniature Schnauzer, is happy with her matching gray pampas grass on a felt collar
The author, Winnie Au, with her Basset Hound rescue Clementine
The book was inspired by Au’s Corgi Tartine (right) who sadly passed from throat cancer
Tartine developed a slight cough and they hoped it was nothing to worry about, but when they received the dreaded news that she had throat cancer, they made the difficult decision to undergo radiation and chemotherapy.
And eventually, after months of hospital visits and painful treatment, they had to let her go.
‘She just seemed to be having more bad days than good ones,’ writes Au. ‘She eventually wasn’t able to eat at all, and she was suffering. We decided to put her to sleep, and it was one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to go through. We were heartbroken.
‘We missed the little clicking of her paws on the ground, we missed our daily walks, and we had no idea what to do with her bed, her bowls, all of her cute corgi things.’
She adds: ‘We were lucky at the time and had pet insurance that covered most of our costs… But I realized that when your dog is sick or injured, it’s horrible to have to make medical decisions based on finances. So I vowed to do something about it.’
By donating proceeds from her work to help other animals has, she says, ‘been a cathartic process and has helped me channel some of the pain I felt from the loss of Tartine into something positive and fulfilling.’
She and Florent were determined they’d never get another dog, but a few months later, after fostering a rescue dog called Clementine, they decided to adopt her permanently.
‘Once Clementine came into our lives, both of our hearts melted all over again,’ Au writes.
But the book is dedicated to their first puppy love – the sweet Corgi ‘who taught us how to be selfless and joyful,’ writes Au. ‘Thank you for completing our family.’
Cone of Shame by Winnie Au is published by Union Square & Co.
