Category: Reviews

REVIEWS: Earthlings

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2006:

Earthlings
Written, produced & directed
by Shaun Monson;
narrated by Joaquin Phoenix
Nation Earth (4000-D West Magnolia Blvd., Suite 260, Burbank, CA
91505; www.isawearthlings.com), 2006. DVD, 95 minutes. $19.95.

Actor Joaquin Phoenix in Earthlings explains video clip after
clip of shock video footage of the use and abuse of animals for food,
clothing, entertainment and medical research. Much of the material
was obtained by activists working under cover.
Earthlings has been compared to The Animals’ Film, narrated
by Julie Christie, which in 1981 helped to raise animal advocacy to
global prominence. Very few people were thoroughly aware, at that
time, of the issues that The Animals’ Film raised, and the shocking
aspects of it were demonstrably effective.

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BOOKS: Making Burros Fly

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2006:

Making Burros Fly:
Cleveland Amory–Animal Rescue Pioneer
by Julie Hoffman Marshall
Johnson Books (Big Earth Publishing, 3005 Center Green Drive, Suite 220,
Boulder, CO 80301), 2006. 176 pages, paperback. $17.50.

The title of Making Burros Fly refers to
the well-publicized 1979 rescue of 557 wild
burros from Grand Canyon National Park,
organized by Cleveland Amory after the National
Park Service deemed them alien and invasive, and
ordained that they should be exterminated. Amory
persuaded the reluctant and skeptical agency to
allow his 11-year-old Fund for Animals to attempt
capture and relocation. Using a variety of
methods including net-gunning from the air,
Amory and his “Army of the Kind” achieved the
rescue at a cost to donors of $500,000. The
capture operation led to Amory’s acquisition in
1980 of an 83-acre property which became the
Black Beauty Ranch sanctuary. Read more

REVIEWS: Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventures

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2006:

Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventures
Buena Vista Productions & R.K.O.Productions, 2006.
Four volumes; $32.95 each.

True Life Adventures, the first release
in the new Walt Disney Legacy DVD collection,
features 13 wildlife documentaries which among
them won eight Academy Awards and created a whole
new genre of cinema. Originally filmed fifty
years ago in 16 millimetre format, the films
have been digitally restored, are presented in
four 2-disc volumes with collectible packaging,
and include commentary by Roy E. Disney, nephew
of Walt Disney and son of Walt Disney Studios
founding partner Roy Oliver.

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BOOKS: One At A Time: A Week in an American Animal Shelter

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2006:

One At A Time: A Week in an American Animal Shelter
by Diane Leigh & Marilee Geyer
No Voice Unheard (P.O. Box 4171, Santa Cruz, CA
95063), 2005. 146 pages, paperback. $16.95.

One At A Time is a heartbreaking account
of one week in an animal shelter. While many
animals will find a new home, many other
exquisite animals will not. The pictures of the
cats and dogs at the shelter are compelling; it
is tempting to recommend that this book should be
part of a national humane education curriculum at
schools.
“This is how companion animal
overpopulation works,” Leigh and Geyer write.
“Simple math, where the numbers are lives and
those responsible are unaccountableŠ”

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BOOKS: Pigeons

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2006:

Pigeons
by Andrew D. Blechman
Grove Press (841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003), 2006. 256 pages. $23.00

An enthralling study, this book covers the whole spectrum of
topics associated with pigeons, once revered and respected as
messengers, now often reviled as “rats with wings.” Author Andrew
Blechman explores both the methods and motives of pigeon fanciers,
who often devote their whole lives to breeding and racing their
birds; military messengers, some of whom still use pigeons in
places and situations where electronics are impractical; and
recreational pigeon shooters, to whom the birds are no more than
challenging targets. Read more

BOOKS: The Medici Giraffe And Other Tales of Exotic Animals and Power

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2006:

The Medici Giraffe
And Other Tales of Exotic Animals and Power
by Marina Belozerskaya
Little, Brown & Co. (1271 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY
10020), 2006. 412 pages, paperback. $24.99.

Marina Belozerskaya has given us a diverse collection of mini
histories beginning in ancient Egypt. She examines exotic
animal-keeping in the Roman Empire, Renaissance Florence, Aztec
Mexico, Bohemia, Napoleonic France, and the early 20th century U.S.
Through time and across continents, Belozerskaya reveals the
use and abuse of exotic animals by powerful people.
A postscript about the sale from China to the U.S. of two
giant pandas, at an exorbitant price, in order to cement relations
between the two global powers, shows that when it comes to using
animals to advance the goals of ambitious people, nothing has
changed in two and half thousand years.

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BOOKS: The World of the Polar Bear & Among Wild Horses

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2006:

The World of the Polar Bear
by Norbert Rosing
Firefly Books (P.O. Box 1338, Ellicot Station, Buffalo, NY 14205), 2006.
202 pages, hardcover, illust. $45.00.

Among Wild Horses:
A portrait of the Pryor Mountain Mustangs
Photos by Lynne Pomeranz. Text by Rhonda Massingham
Storey Publishing (210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247),
2006. 134 pages, hardcover, illustrated. $16.95.

The World of the Polar Bear and Among Wild Horses are a world
apart from most of the other coffee table books we’ve seen lately.
First of all, the exquisite photos show authentic wild
animals, in panoramic views of the wild, except for some mustangs
in Among Wild Horses who appear to be in a holding corral after a
recent round-up.
Second, the text actually describes what the photos show,
and often explains how the photographer captured the scene. Neither
The World of the Polar Bear nor Among Wild Horses is a recycled
thesis, going into depth and detail about biological facts while
evading the controversies surrounding their subjects.

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BOOKS: Koalas: Zen In Fur

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2006:

Koalas: Zen In Fur
Edited by Joanne Ehrich
Koala Jo Publishing (352 N. El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA 94401), 2006.
97 pages, paperback. $35.00.

Early in 2006 graphic artist Koala Jo Ehrich produced a
lavish 260-page photo collection entitled Koalas: Moving Portraits
of Serenity, with an afterword by celebrity zoo personality Jack
Hanna, to help the Australian Koala Foundation raise money for koala
conservation and rescue work.
Assembling koala images from 120 photographers, Ehrich
funded the publication herself–and soon found that the book cost so
much to print that she would lose more money on each sale than would
go to help koalas.

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BOOKS: Rescued: Saving Animals from Disaster: Life-changing stories and practical suggestions

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2006:

Rescued: Saving Animals from Disaster:
Life-changing stories and practical suggestions
by Allen & Linda Anderson
New World Library (14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949), 2006.
347 pages, paperback. $16.95.

Angel Animals Network founders Allen and Linda Anderson in
Rescued analyze the efforts made to save animals after Hurricane
Katrina. They relate the inspiring stories of committed volunteers
from all over the world who converged on New Orleans, southern
Louisiana, and coastal Mississippi to help the animals who were left
behind when their humans fled, were killed, or were simply unable
to get home after the New Orleans levies broke a day after the
hurricane itself had passed. The Andersons also describe the work
done by various humane organizations, under appalling conditions,
to try to bring order out of chaos. There were some high-profile
individuals involved, such as Madeleine and T. Boone Pickens, the
oil billionaires, who chartered aircraft to transport found animals
to shelters outside the disaster area but most were unknown people
of ordinary resources.

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