The
sacred figures in my painting, The Madonna And Puppy Mill, express anything but
paradise, the implication is painfully clear. The Madonna looks directly at the
viewer, not with understanding but with sadness and confusion. She lovingly
offers up a litter of dying puppies as a plea for help. The dogs depicted in
this Heaven are there because of malevolence.

They are
the dogs I have personally seen in shelters and pounds, in photographs from the
streets of Taiwan, Korean dog meat markets, imprisoned in puppy mills, medical
laboratories, race tracks, set on fire, dragged from cars, abandoned, neglected,
persecuted, and executed. They are the dogs I have painted.

My own
cherished Pit Bull family members were ‘throw aways’. Had they not crossed my
path and instead made their way into a shelter, they most likely would have
become a sad statistic along with a multitude of dogs senselessly murdered each
day. I ache with sorrow when I consider what their fate might have been, and for
all those not saved. The brush has become my sword. 

I
dedicate this painting to all animals that suffer at human hands because of
indifference, cruelty, and greed. My love for animals and an abiding hatred for
their persecution compel me to use my art as a vehicle for change.

 Susan
Saladino