The early stages of this project came with a few speed bumps. Initially, we had focused in on an alternate story but soon realized that we would not be able to make the crucial interviews work within our time frame. We had to think quickly about what story we were going to cover instead. When Kallyn Hobmann, one of our team members, mentioned Ryla’s Rescue we were immediately all on board. We all have a love for dogs and knew it would be a story that would melt hearts and spark interest. “I knew there was a need for rescue within animal shelters, but I didn’t know what anyone was doing about it in the SLO community. It was really cool to see how students have found a solution to this ever-growing problem and how people come together to support this cause. This topic is one that is near to my heart and I enjoyed being able to shed more light on it,” says Megan LaChance, another group member. 
We knew that this would be a great story for photo and video, so the team headed to a Ryla’s Rescue event to capture the sweet pups, foster parents, and founders of the organization on tape. “Growing up always having dogs at home, this organization caught my attention. It was great finding out more about their mission and seeing what they’ve been doing for shelter dogs. Seeing the passion and love that Ryla’s Rescue has for dogs has made me think about fostering,” said Scott Field, who was in charge of word for the story. Sadly, I could not attend the event due to a work conflict, but my group was amazing at catching me up and providing me with all the footage and photos to look through.
When beginning this project the most intriguing part to me was how Ryla’s Rescue came to be. I wanted to know everything about how two Cal Poly students created a successful dog rescue. Kayla Holder, one of the co-founders, spoke about the inspiration behind the organization.”We realized how much of an impact we can make and how much Woods [Humane Society] does for our community but then also how much more can be done and how much more help that the homeless pet problem needs, so we decided to kind of start Ryla’s Rescue as our senior project to make even the smallest dent in the problem especially in Los Angeles and San Francisco and the most overcrowded shelters in California.”
Once again, our group was able to communicate effectively and work very well together. We were all able to help one another with each platform and work around our individual commitments and schedules. “I think this project went well for the same reasons our first project went well – everyone worked really well together to help each other with each position to make sure all parts of the project were the highest quality we could possibly make them,” said Hobmann.