Busy Week

this was a tough week for everyone in my group. we didn't get to meet because of schedule conflicts and sickness. we are now a week behind and have a lot of catch up work to do this coming week. Dom got a camera though! so we are really excited....we just need to start using it! hopefully we can get a lot accomplished this week. i'll have some free time over break to get more work done. feel better melanie!!!

Treatment

The opening scenes starts with one voice sympathetically, almost imploring the viewer to be drawn into a problem that affects every community all over the United States, even the world, one that could easily be fixed but would require all people to come together for this cause. The message is soon taken on by another person, but still communicating the same monologue: “The pet overpopulation problem is one that can be fixed. Providing spay and neuter services is the humane and compassionate answer that would help stem the overwhelming number of pets who could be amazing companions if there were only enough homes.” The message is taken on by more and more people, all carrying on the startling statistics on euthanazations, pet abuse and the inaccessibility of treatment for animals whose owners are classified as low-income. People’s faces are intercut with images of the animals whose only hope is to be saved from a shelter or the streets by a loving family. Our scenes will be a montage of quick cuts including graphics, quotes, interviewees and photos, but our message will be the same: that every companion pet should be spayed and neutered to ensure that the number of pets available will one day be lower than the number of people wanting to give them good homes. Although reliable euthanasia numbers are hard to come by, it is widely accepted that almost 9.6 million animals are humanely released from their suffering every year. That’s almost 19 companions every minute. We want to communicate this hard fact by reminding people that while watching this 10 minute documentary, about 190 animals will be put to sleep. Another statistic that needs to be communicated is the massive amount of animals that are born to families who can not afford to spay and neuter their pet. Almost 70% of the pet overpopulation problem is caused because the pet owner does not have access to the services that could prevent millions of animals from being born. Because the subject of spay and neuter is so all-encompassing, our subject will focus on the low-income families that could be of the most benefit to the pet community that usually ends up in our shelters or roaming transiently; at the mercy of cars, the elements, and people that would do them harm. There are many successful programs that provide sterilization services for free or at an extremely low cost to the community-- programs like Spay Jax which has seen a dramatic drop in admissions to shelters, and an even larger effect on euthanasiation numbers. These programs are funded by government grants, usually at a lower cost than to provide for the overpopulated shelters and animal control services that are needed in areas that do not cater to humane prevention measures.The film will be far from a preachy, over bearing shock and awe message to scare, repulse or astonish people into reacting to our mission. We want to celebrate the people who are doing their part to control the problem, as well as the people who are devoting their lives to preventing the problem. We want to encourage people to shift the public mind-set towards the animals; that pet overpopulation comes as a result of yesterday’s community overlooking the spay and neuter problem. Having a more compassionate, progressive and responsible attitude towards our companion population is the only way to see the shelters empty, with more families and pets “fixed” in the belief that sterilization leads to happier, healthier animals as well as a balanced community.

Treatment

The opening scenes starts with one voice sympathetically, almost imploring the viewer to be drawn into a problem that affects every community all over the United States, even the world, one that could easily be fixed but would require all people to come together for this cause. The message is soon taken on by another person, but still communicating the same monologue: “The pet overpopulation problem is one that can be fixed. Providing spay and neuter services is the humane and compassionate answer that would help stem the overwhelming number of pets who could be amazing companions if there were only enough homes.” The message is taken on by more and more people, all carrying on the startling statistics on euthanazations, pet abuse and the inaccessibility of treatment for animals whose owners are classified as low-income. People’s faces are intercut with images of the animals whose only hope is to be saved from a shelter or the streets by a loving family. Our scenes will be a montage of quick cuts including graphics, quotes, interviewees and photos, but our message will be the same: that every companion pet should be spayed and neutered to ensure that the number of pets available will one day be lower than the number of people wanting to give them good homes. Although reliable euthanasia numbers are hard to come by, it is widely accepted that almost 9.6 million animals are humanely released from their suffering every year. That’s almost 19 companions every minute. We want to communicate this hard fact by reminding people that while watching this 10 minute documentary, about 190 animals will be put to sleep. Another statistic that needs to be communicated is the massive amount of animals that are born to families who can not afford to spay and neuter their pet. Almost 70% of the pet overpopulation problem is caused because the pet owner does not have access to the services that could prevent millions of animals from being born. Because the subject of spay and neuter is so all-encompassing, our subject will focus on the low-income families that could be of the most benefit to the pet community that usually ends up in our shelters or roaming transiently; at the mercy of cars, the elements, and people that would do them harm. There are many successful programs that provide sterilization services for free or at an extremely low cost to the community-- programs like Spay Jax which has seen a dramatic drop in admissions to shelters, and an even larger effect on euthanasiation numbers. These programs are funded by government grants, usually at a lower cost than to provide for the overpopulated shelters and animal control services that are needed in areas that do not cater to humane prevention measures.The film will be far from a preachy, over bearing shock and awe message to scare, repulse or astonish people into reacting to our mission. We want to celebrate the people who are doing their part to control the problem, as well as the people who are devoting their lives to preventing the problem. We want to encourage people to shift the public mind-set towards the animals; that pet overpopulation comes as a result of yesterday’s community overlooking the spay and neuter problem. Having a more compassionate, progressive and responsible attitude towards our companion population is the only way to see the shelters empty, with more families and pets “fixed” in the belief that sterilization leads to happier, healthier animals as well as a balanced community.

Where I fit into this project

I guess my biggest contribution so far is coming up with the idea of "Fixed" and my passion to make it happen. Fortunately I have just as dedicated partners who have added SO many incredible ideas to the project. It started out as this passionate idea of mine and has turned into this huge project that other people have completely devoted themselves to. I fit in because i've had the first hand experiences with rescue organizations, rescue animals, and sad, but most importantly with animals dying or being euthanized. Seeing these things first hand allows me to keep the passion of the film alive. I hope to keep the project on schedule and make sure that it is finished to its full capability. Thats my biggest goal...to make sure the project gets done no matter what

narrowing our ideas

We decided that our thoughts were too broad and disorganized so we met and came up with three objectived for the film to build around:

1. To tell/show audience the problem: overpopulation from lack of spay/neuter, especially in low-income families.

2. To tell/show the effects of the problem: millions of animals euthanized yearly, environmental issues, etc...

3. To tell/show how the problem can be fixed: show what other cities have done like voucher programs, governmental funding, etc...

This will not only help us narrow our thoughts, but narrow our interviewees as well. It will help us decide what factors in this project are the most important and valuable.

Good News

We will have our very first interview on Sunday with Anna Platz, a board member of PAWS of NC, a volunteer/foster parent with Boxer Rescue, and the proud owner of a boxer that she saved from a puppy mill. She and many others were fighting for most of 2006 in court for their rescues animals (from the puppy mill) to be allowed to be spayed/neutered. The owners of the puppy mill were trying to get their dogs back, so in the meantime the dogs were not allowed to be spayed or neutered. Well, Anna and the other owners WON recently, so now her dog is allowed to be neutered. Not only is she giving us an interview, but she is letting us record the before, during, and after of her dog's surgery. We will be filming the neuter at College Road Animal Hospital hopefully very soon. So great news!!!...Also Melanie got a response back from a person that works for Ceaser and they said that they were going to pass on our letter up the latter...!!!

Unfortunate accident

so i couldn't meet with my group this weekend...i had an unfortunate accident...i was playing with my dogs and my roommate on the quiet street in front of my house. I was running with one of my dogs to catch up to my roommie and my other dog, when my dog pulled me really quickly and I fell flat on my face. I went to the hospital and broke my nose, busted open my lip, and I have a hematoma on my forehead. I was just a freak accident, but I've been pretty out of it from the pain medicine, because they couldn't fix it then. I have to go see a specialist and possibly have surgery. Just wanted to let you know all know what was going on so when you see me you'll know why I look like I do...

WECT6 story

WOW...I just finished watching WECT's story on animal overpopulation in Wilmington and they actually showed a dog euthanized. I thought that I would be ok watching it since i've been around this stuff for so long and I thought I could handle it, but the three minute euthanization really hurt me. It was good that I saw it, but it made me realize how incredibly hard this project is going to be. My biggest goal for myself is not getting emotionally attached to these animals. It is already killing me just thinking of actually seeing a euthanization in person...let alone on the news. I have got to emotionally be stronger and just keep realizing that this is for the better good...that their unlawful deaths will mean something. Did anyone else watch it??

Progress

so we've decided that Dom would be our production manager and keep us on track with time, etc...Dom and I elected Melanie (without her knowledge haha) as our spokesperson/interviewer because we feel that she is perfect for the job. None of us have a set position because we will all contribute to those positions, but they're skills will be used to our advantage! I am working on getting us a number of important interviews at the moment. I called Dr. LaCroix at LaCroix Vet (where i take my dogs) because he had agreed a while ago to an interview. I left a message and got his email address. I also found a huge article on spay and neuter in the brand new Paw Prints today. I called Paw Prints to talk to the writer/journalist and left a message. I also called another writer (Joe Needham from Friends of Felines) who has a sub-article to the spay neuter one and left a message with him. I also called Dr. Mizrahi from Cape Fear Spay/Neuter Clinic and left a message and got her email address.