Thousands of pets of all shapes and sizes await adoption in New Jersey.
Here's a little test: hand someone a camera and bring around some puppies or kittens. Afterward, look to see what they shot.
If they didn't manage to take ridiculously cute photos, take the camera away from them and ban them from ever handling one again.
It's pretty much impossible to take a bad photo of a pet. Some are the biggest hams this side of Hollywood, and the rest seem to have an instinct to be as photogenic as possible.
The history of pet photography goes back quite a bit further than the founding of icanhas.cheezburger.com. The photo at right has long been accepted as the oldest photograph to show a human being. Taken in Paris in 1838 by Louis Daguerre, the scene captures a man having his shoes shined in the lower-left portion.
But Amanda Uren notes on mashable.com that modern researchers believe they've also located a child and a dog on the opposite side of the street. They have not yet been able to determine if he was leashed or being properly curbed ... yet.
Cats weren't too far behind. Cyriaque Lamar states on i09.com that "the progenitor of shameless cat pictures was probably English photographer Harry Pointer (1822-1889), who snapped approximately 200 photos of his perplexed, albeit jovial, Brighton Cats. Pointer began his career shooting naturalistic photos of cats, but he realized in the 1870s that coaxing felines into ludicrous poses was an exercise in delicious absurdity."
"Pointer often arranged his cats in unusual poses that mimicked human activities -- a cat riding a tricycle, cats roller-skating and even a cat taking a photograph. Pointer increased the commercial potential of his cat pictures by adding a written greeting such as "A Happy New Year" or "Very many happy returns of the day."
Had the internet existed in Pointer's day, he would've been a very wealthy man.
More photos of pets in New Jersey in need of adoption can be seen by clicking here and here.
Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.