"Breeding dogs to death"

I found this image at an informational website called BBC Bitesize as I was researching for images of the Pedigree brand dog food, which I have been told is like feeding McDonald’s to your dog. This image is very conventional in the sense that it portrays dogs mainly sitting down—some of them panting –which is something very normal for a dog to do. On the other hand, there are eight dogs, sitting in a straight line, all looking towards the same point-of-view. It is unconventional for dogs to be positioned the way they are and yet not acknowledge each other’s presence (aka. butt sniffing). We can notice a contrast of the dogs with the white background, and they are all arranged so that we notice a fur color and height difference among them, even though some are equally tall as others and the two on the far ends are the shortest ones. The color and arrangement of the canines create a balanced image with emphasis on the animals that besides being of the same species possess different characteristics that identify the breed.
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I realized there was something wrong with the previous picture, so I figured I could enhance the comparison and contrast presented through the image by adding words. The text, like the images show a relationship between the dogs, whose personalities can be generally described with the adjectives positioned throughout the image. This technique, consisting of placing different qualities of what people expect from and look for in a dog—in white, which creates additional contrast with the darker-colored fur of the animals—gives us a more personal perspective as we get closer to getting to know the various dogs. But it’s not until we read the captions that pertain to each individual dog that we realize we’ve received quite too much information. All of a sudden we feel somehow repelled by the previously incredibly cute and appealing image. The individual captions present the various genetic diseases that are associated with each particular breed.
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My additions to the image change the viewer’s perception of the original image. Someone who was considering getting one of the dogs portrayed in the picture might reconsider doing so, which partially fulfills my goal. But what the viewer will not know unless I include and extended explanation with the edited image is that the purpose of the alterations I performed to the original image are for animal advocacy purposes. My targeted audience consists of people that rather buy a pedigree dog instead of a mutt. My inspiration was a documentary I watched on how “purebred” dogs are actually so incredibly inbred that numerous genetic health diseases are expected from a breed. These dogs suffer an incredible amount throughout their lifetime, aside from the rampant medical bills. I agree with Roland Barthes (Mythologies) in that we cannot perceive exactly what the writer intended, especially when it comes to other forms of media that involve little or no writing.
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Related Sources:

"Pedigree Dogs Exposed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O0l0f50AAk&feature=related