Jim Morris
Jim Morris has worked for newspapers, radio, television and various Websites for more than 47 years. He has been a writer, an editor, an editorial writer and a columnist. For 23 years, Morris worked for the Troy Daily News as sports editor, managing editor and executive editor. In 1994 he began working at the Dayton Daily News as an outdoor sports columnist and night sports desk editor. He retired from the DDN in January of 2010 and is now a freelance writer with his own Website for outdoors stories.
CONTACTThe documentary film The Elephant in the Living Room is about to be released on DVD. It is, perhaps, the best film ever made about exotic pet ownership in America.
I just finished watching the movie The Elephant in the Living Room. If and when you see it, I think you will agree it is one of the most powerful films you will see this year and maybe for years to come.
The film, a documentary by director Michael Webber, takes on exotic pet ownership head on. And, perhaps to the surprise of many, it goes to great lengths to present both sides of the controversial issue.
Exotic pets ? we?re talkin? lions, tigers, mountain lions, leopards, bears, alligators, large and venomous snakes ? all sorts of predators ? are legal in some states. Apparently that includes Ohio at present, since Gov. John Kasich decided to let an emergency ban against exotic pet sales expire. At present, a panel is reviewing what Ohio?s policy should be. Some cities in Ohio ? including Dayton ? have exotic pet ownership bans in place.
The Elephant in the Living Room follows the career of Tim Harrison, the public safety officer from Oakwood who has been rescuing animals for more than 30 years.
As the movie shows, someone would buy a small animal ? a cougar, for example ? and raise it as a pet. One day, something happens and the animal escapes. Now it is prowling the neighborhood. And when it gets hungry, a dog, a cat or even a small child can be attacked and eaten. That?s nature. It?s not the animal?s fault. It?s the responsibility of the person who adopted a cub and didn?t consider what might happen in the years to come.
I think a very interesting aspect of the film shows the point of view of a person who owned two African lions. The man had genuine affection for the animals, even though he had to keep them in a small pen on his Pike County, Ohio property. And when one escaped, he was forced to keep them for a time confined in a horse trailer.
?The most difficult part of making this film was the pressure from groups for or against exotic animal ownership,? Webber told an interviewer. ?People don?t want to talk about it because it so controversial.?
The documentary is extremely well written and produced. The camera work is Hollywood quality.
Harrison, who heads an organization called Outreach for Animals, has been an outspoken advocate for creating laws against exotic pet ownership. He has seen too often what can happen when that huge cat or snake gets loose. And, quite often, he is the one who is called to capture it ? not just in Dayton, but in other parts of Ohio as well.
Harrison has tried to join the panel debating exotic pet ownership in Ohio, but the pressure from exotic pet ownership organizations has kept him out.
What he is asking now is for those Ohio panel members to watch The Elephant in the Living Room before?making any decisions. That seems like a reasonable request to me.
The Elephant in the Living Room is scheduled to come out on DVD and Blu-Ray on Aug. 23.
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Source: http://pressprosmagazine.com/film-shows-both-sides-of-exotic-pets-issue/
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