Prince George students draw portraits of animals up for adoption at local shelter

Sep 16, 2025 - 22:25

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Prince George students draw portraits of animals up for adoption at local shelter

PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- For students at J.E.J. Moore Middle School, art is something that can be used for a good cause outside of the classroom -- like at their local animal shelter.

During early September, Moore Middle School art teacher Makenzie Onizuk and her students in the Program for Artistically Advanced Services (PAAS) drew portraits of several dogs and cats that are available for adoption at the Prince George County Animal Shelter. When the pet gets adopted, their owner will receive the hand-drawn pieces as a gift.

Onizuk first got the idea after seeing a social media post, and was inspired to combine arts and community service with her students.

Students at J.E.J. Moore Middle School draw portraits of animals at Prince George shelter (Photo: Prince George County Public Schools)

"I am an animal lover to my core and am very passionate about helping animals," Onizuk said. "About two years ago, I saw an Instagram post of a kindergarten class drawing shelter animals to help get them adopted. It was the cutest thing ever, and I knew I wanted to do it with my PAAS students as well."

To start off, the students looked up the shelter's animals on Petfinder to gather information, like the animals' names and personalities. They typically choose to draw the senior cats and dogs, or the animals that have been at the shelter the longest.

When the hand-drawn pieces were dropped off at the shelter, Onizuk also took pictures of the pets alongside their portraits for the students to see.

One of the dogs that a student drew even got adopted, and the students got the chance to see videos of him in his new home.

For more information and to see more photos, click here.