Movie Review: "The Tiger Next Door"

At the Indianapolis International Film Festival, I was fortunate to attend the world premiere of "The Tiger Next Door", a documentary film by Camilla Calamandrei, about the keeping and breeding of captive tigers in the United States. The film is an excellent character study on Dennis Hill of Flat Rock, Indiana, whose biker looks and attitude belie his apparently gentle, naive nature.

Big cats are fascinating, and though the film moved steadily and showed its subjects beautifully, I was disappointed during the first half of the movie that Calamandrei chose not to focus on the bigger picture of the plight of endangered big cat species, but rather focused on a few individuals: Hill, his neighbors (pro- and anti- Hill), Exotic Feline Rescue Center founder Joe Taft, and a smattering of other animal-welfare supporters and government officials. I'd earlier hoped for more of a "Sharkwater"-style film, centered around an individual to tell the story of a global concern.

But Hill's battle to keep his exotic tigers, cougars and other big cats amidst impending government intervention proved to be a story worth telling: how many people know it's legal to keep - and breed - such exotic creatures in half of the United States? Or that a dead tiger is worth more than a live one in the U.S.? Or that there are likely more tigers in captivity in the U.S. than exist in the wild? Or that the rules and regulations on keeping these powerful predators aren't enforced, and even if they were, would be far from adequate in guaranteeing the health of these wondrous creatures, or the safety of the communities living around them?

The small community around Hill's Flat Rock home spoke often throughout the film, and at times added much-needed doses of humor to an otherwise somber film. Calamandrei told the story from all sides well, though I was disappointed more information wasn't included regarding a neighbor's claim that a severed tiger head and tail were found on his adjacent land.

After the film's debut, Calamandrei took questions from the crowd, who seemed more than eager to side with Joe Taft, whose Exotic Feline Rescue Center looked like paradise compared to Hill's facilities. The discussion's moderator was wise to diffuse potential arguments in the passionate audience by directing most questions to Calamandrei, who, as in the film, was sufficiently fair to all sides. I asked if she was more or less hopeful for the future of endangered species after making this film; unsurprisingly, she's not optimistic, and feels more confused about what's best for these animals now that she's learned more about their story, at home and abroad.

Hill appears to love his big cats because of their power and the difficulty of controlling them - and somewhat selfishly because of the elusiveness of white tigers - and Taft, in the film, is shown to be compassionate about their well-being and quality of life. Neither of these Hoosiers mentioned the more global issues facing these creatures, but I can't blame them: focusing on the few cats they have is more than full-time work, and attempting to ignite positive change overseas in natural tiger habitat is far beyond their abilities. Even Taft admitted, during the Q&A session, that he hasn't attempted to push change on Indiana's state regulations on captive tigers. But he suggested a start (require a strict minimum cage area to allow them to live in). And judging by one of the audience member's enthusiastic offer to support regulation (she's been involved the past several years in puppy-mill legislation), Taft's suggestion might be all that's needed to kick-start a better future for these animals.

After all, if we don't respect living creatures, especially those as beautiful and as powerful as tigers, how can we respect Earth's top predators - our fellow human beings?

(Calamandrei is currently looking for a distributor for her film. For more information, visit TheTigerNextDoor.com.)

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Angie's List pet stories on no-kill shelters and PAWS Chicago

I had the good fortune to work on two stories — one podcast, one print/online — for the first Angie's List magazine pet-themed issue, which is out now. The first story, "No-Kill shelters spur controversy", was written by Amy Mastin (moving to South Carolina soon — I wish her the best of luck!) with some reporting by me, and is all about the debate between traditional and no-kill shelters. (Admittedly, "no-kill" shelters are a bit of a misnomer, as vicious or terminally ill animals are euthanized. But no matter what true no-kill shelters call themselves, the terminology is besides the point: they simply use "no kill" as words to define the movement to stop killing as a form of population control for adoptable pets.) Some heavyweights in the animal welfare industry were interviewed for the story, including Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, Ed Sayres, president of the ASPCA, and Nathan Winograd, director of the No Kill Advocacy Center.

The debate is quite the controversial topic, but it was a fun story to report on.

Also, I had the pleasure of visiting PAWS Chicago, a no-kill shelter in — you guessed it — downtown Chicago. Executive director Rochelle Michalek took Jay, a local photographer, and myself on a tour of both the Lurie Family Spay/Neuter Clinic, and the Pippen Fasseas Adoption Center in trendy Lincoln Park (also the happy home of a Goose Island brewpub.)

The arrangement PAWS (which stands for "Pets Are Worth Saving") has set up is quite amazing, and they're on track to save a lot more animals this year than last. Check out the video of the visit on the Angie's List podcast site — as you'll see, there are definitely some super-cute animals for adoption!

PAWS Chicago takes its animals from the city of Chicago's Animal Care and Control division, which I didn't have the chance to visit. But by comparing my day's worth of filming at PAWS Chicago and a half-day's worth of shadowing a tech (thanks, Sara!) at Indianapolis Animal Care and Control I recently did, I can tell you the differences between traditional animal shelters and proper "no kill" are stark. IACC is located on Harding Street in a heavily industrial area of Indianapolis, which often stinks and is an area far from pleasant to visit. PAWS' adoption center, on the other hand, is located in a heavily trafficked (car, bike and foot) area, with big, attractive windows used to showcase the animals. I strongly believe IACC should spend just a little cash (they might even be able to do this for free) and rent out a small retail space in a place like Mass Ave., Broad Ripple or the Carmel Arts District (which would be especially effective for IACC, since it has no presence on the north side, save for stops at PetSmart) to feature some of their adoptable animals — especially the older ones, or those who've been available for adoption for a long time but are at risk of being killed for space.

Walking into the IACC kennels is almost like looking back in time at an older way of thinking, with the rows of stereotypical dog-pound steel-barred cages filled with oft-scared, barking dogs or timid, meowing cats. Walking into the kennels at PAWS, however, is more like walking into a spa: many of the rooms look posh enough to relax in and maybe even have a massage. They feature their own air systems, relaxing music, elevated beds, and no bars, only glass doors. And plenty of natural light, as well — much more pleasant than the typical harsh fluorescent bulbs.

I could go on about the differences, but comparing a traditional animal control agency with a progressive no-kill one is kind of like comparing apples and oranges: they seem to have the same basic structure or purpose, but have some major differences as well. And honestly, it's not quite fair to say PAWS is better than animal control — after all, in Chicago, they're working together, which is great. And PAWS doesn't have to take in all of the city's tens of thousands of strays, as animal control does in Chicago, Indy, and most other cities. However, I think the most important fact about places like PAWS is that they offer a hopeful future: if more animal shelters and control agencies took some cues from places like PAWS, they could be well on their way to saving thousands more dog and cat lives annually, and would also be well on their way to saving thousands more dollars and bringing thousands more in. Saving lives not only saves money, but also generates goodwill from the public, who are more than willing to donate their hard-earned cash towards agencies they see as doing good for animals.

It's getting late, I'm tired, and I could write plenty more about this subject. But instead, I'll let Bob Barker's words — which hit at the heart of one of the most important elements in animal welfare in America today — sign off for me in the same way they did every episode of The Price is Right:

"Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered."

Update 8/7/08: I forgot to mention a resource for those looking to adopt. This page on Angie's List magazine's site lists a variety of terrific sources for animal adoption. If you're looking for a purebred, please remember that roughly 1/4 of all dogs in animal shelters are purebred, and there are plenty of breed rescue organizations in the United States who would surely be glad to help you find your perfect pet!

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New project: Indy Animal Media!

I've got yet another new project: Indy Animal Media. Check out the website and its first podcast at indyanimalmedia.org.

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Pet adoption and activism events

Though AdoptAnAnimal.org is still in its infancy, my calendar is gradually filling up with related happenings, and I'm realizing that this non-job is a lot of work! On Saturday, my wife and I attended the North Shore Animal League's "Tour for Life" at the Indianapolis Animal Care and Control center. (Before I forget, check out Shakie to the right, one of the adoptable dogs at IACC. He looks very similar to my dogs Aja and Diva, and it's so tempting to rescue him... but I can't, so maybe you should! Click his pic to go to his Petfinder page, or visit IACC to see him and take him for a walk.)(Updated on 4/29/08: Shakie is no longer available: he was adopted!) NSAL purports to be the world's largest no-kill shelter. I don't know if this is true, but either way, I didn't find out at Saturday's event. It was great to see a lot of no-kill animal rescue organizations represented at the event, but besides a small hand-written poster board and an NSAL pamphlet at one of the booths, I didn't see any presence of the League at all (and their blog currently doesn't have an Indy entry, so perhaps something happened and they couldn't show up.) At any rate, I met some great people representing some worthwhile animal activism groups, adoption shelters and rescue organizations. I talked to Warren Patitz, president and founder of Move to Act, which has been one of the Humane Society of Indianapolis's most vocal critics (though critics of HSI aren't hard to find, especially after their decision to stop taking in stray animals - read this Nuvo article for the full story.) He told me some more about an upcoming No Kill seminar with author/activist Nathan Winograd, which should be quite interesting (I listened to Winograd's podcast, based on this blog post today; it definitely makes me rethink the comment I left on Nuvo's site in which I mentioned that even if HSI is making a mistake by not taking strays, at least their end goal of finding homes for pets is a noble one. I hope they're doing all they can to adopt out every animal.) So in addition to the Tour for Life and the No Kill seminar, I'll also be attending the HSI Mutt Strut this Sunday with Aja, Diva, Pixie (my dogs), my wife and my parents (and their dog.) I'm sure my dogs don't really care what HSI is doing as long as they get to be around hundreds of other excited, panting dogs. Speaking of dogs, I found it interesting that, at the NSAL event this past Saturday, my wife wanted to take home the smallest dog, Honeybunch (a beautiful little boxer-type mix from Rescue Farm), and I wanted to take home the largest (Titan, a gorgeous malamute from Indy Homes for Huskies, who arguably had the liveliest bunch of dogs available for adoption.) If only we had acres and acres of farmland so we could take in more dogs... When asked why he spent so much time and money talking about kindness to animals when there is so much cruelty to men, George Angell (founder of the Massachusetts SPCA in 1868) replied, “I am working at the roots. When human beings finally learn to honor the spirit of all beings most of the world’s problems will be solved."

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My new venture: AdoptAnAnimal.org

For awhile now, I've been wanting to volunteer for something. There are so many causes that need help that it was almost overwhelming for me to decide what I could truly make a difference with, but I think I've found it. I've started a web site/organization called Adopt An Animal (at adoptananimal.org) in order to help homeless animals find loving, responsible homes. My friend Josh from work is helping me out, my wife's offering public administration know-how, and hopefully soon many more will volunteer their time. So far we have one animal, a female dog, available for adoption. "Avril" was a stray who wandered around our workplace campus and was lucky enough to be taken in and kindly fostered with another of my coworkers, Lindsey (sorry if I spelled it wrong!) I took some video of the dog Lindsey and her husband are fostering, posted it on Adopt An Animal's website, Facebook, and YouTube, and will offer it in a podcast as soon as iTunes approves it (should be any time now.) Though we definitely want to help strays find homes and foster families place their fostered pets, we also hope to volunteer our services to local animal shelters and rescue organizations and offer help with video and other online media like podcasts, blogs, websites, etc. I think most animal welfare groups are short-staffed, under-budget, don't have the multimedia experience, or all of the above, so Adopt An Animal will help where it's needed. Also, though we're currently in Indianapolis and will begin by assisting Central-Indiana pets, we'd love to expand as much as possible. So if you'd like to offer your services, no matter where you are, let me know! And if you're fostering a pet or if you're part of an animal welfare organization and would like help with adopting your animals, be sure to visit AdoptAnAnimal.org and let us know, or contact me through this blog. (2-27-2008 update: Avril's been adopted! Her foster family decided to keep her. One down, millions more to go :) )

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