Patience and ingenuity are required for Julie Tottman to teach dogs – and owls, goats, cats and pigs – new tricks
Julie Tottman can train dogs to use a lavatory, owls to deliver mail and squirrels to shell nuts on bar stools, but there's one frequent request from film-makers that makes her heart sink. "You can't train a dog to hump," she says.
"You have to find one who does it naturally. I have to call on a friend whose mastiff will hump anything from cushions to table legs. If a director wants a specific breed other than a mastiff I have to say no."
Tottman, 42, runs the UK arm of Gary Gero's Birds & Animals, a Californian company that provides animal "actors" for the film and theatre industry. At her base in Hertfordshire she trained dogs, cats and owls for the filming of the Harry Potter films, and has provided biddable goats for Mamma Mia,...
Julie Tottman can train dogs to use a lavatory, owls to deliver mail and squirrels to shell nuts on bar stools, but there's one frequent request from film-makers that makes her heart sink. "You can't train a dog to hump," she says.
"You have to find one who does it naturally. I have to call on a friend whose mastiff will hump anything from cushions to table legs. If a director wants a specific breed other than a mastiff I have to say no."
Tottman, 42, runs the UK arm of Gary Gero's Birds & Animals, a Californian company that provides animal "actors" for the film and theatre industry. At her base in Hertfordshire she trained dogs, cats and owls for the filming of the Harry Potter films, and has provided biddable goats for Mamma Mia,...
- 11/21/2012
- by Anna Tims
- The Guardian - Film News
Adam Sandler’s movie Zookeeper has just come under fire by Peta. The animal rights group has sent off a series of letters slamming the production which also stars Rosario Dawson, Cher, Kevin James, and Sylvester Stallone. But the real star of the film are a number of exotic animals. Sandler’s production company Happy Madison hired California-based company Gary Gero’s Birds & Animals Unlimited for the movie. Only problem is that the company was cited by the Us Department of Agriculture for “numerous animal welfare violations.” That’s a huge no-no in Peta’s book! Petaa spokeswoman...
- 8/13/2009
- Hollyscoop.com
Animal rights activists at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have written a series of fuming letters to stars including Adam Sandler, Cher, Rosario Dawson and Sylvester Stallone over their new movie The Zookeeper.
The film, from Sandler's Happy Madison production company, will star Kevin James as an unlucky-in-love zoo worker who tries to win the affections of Dawson's character. It will feature a range of exotic creatures who provide advice, with voiceovers from Stallone, Cher and Sandler.
But bosses at PETA are furious about the decision to hire animal trainers from California for the shoot at Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts - claiming the company has a history of neglect.
PETA officials say Gary Gero’s Birds & Animals Unlimited has been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for “numerous animal welfare violations”, and have written to the actors in a bid to keep the animals safe on set.
PETA spokeswoman Amanda Schinke says, "We’re hoping to enlist the film’s stars to keep cruelty off the set. Exotic animals used as involuntary ‘actors’ are routinely subjected to rigorous and abusive training methods to coerce them into performing acts that are stressful, uncomfortable, confusing and even painful."
A rep for Gary Gero’s has hit back at PETA's claims, insisting the organisation has been misinformed: "When we did (1989 movie) Batman, PETA said our penguins should have been kept cold, they were from South Africa! They don’t do their research and there’s nothing that can be said to change their minds. We’ve been in the business 45 years, we’re highly respected. We know our animals are well-treated and well-cared for and we can sleep very well at night.”
While Franklin Park Zoo boss, John Linehan, adds, "We have observed nothing but good care of the animals since they have been on site filming The Zookeeper at Franklin Park Zoo.”...
The film, from Sandler's Happy Madison production company, will star Kevin James as an unlucky-in-love zoo worker who tries to win the affections of Dawson's character. It will feature a range of exotic creatures who provide advice, with voiceovers from Stallone, Cher and Sandler.
But bosses at PETA are furious about the decision to hire animal trainers from California for the shoot at Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts - claiming the company has a history of neglect.
PETA officials say Gary Gero’s Birds & Animals Unlimited has been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for “numerous animal welfare violations”, and have written to the actors in a bid to keep the animals safe on set.
PETA spokeswoman Amanda Schinke says, "We’re hoping to enlist the film’s stars to keep cruelty off the set. Exotic animals used as involuntary ‘actors’ are routinely subjected to rigorous and abusive training methods to coerce them into performing acts that are stressful, uncomfortable, confusing and even painful."
A rep for Gary Gero’s has hit back at PETA's claims, insisting the organisation has been misinformed: "When we did (1989 movie) Batman, PETA said our penguins should have been kept cold, they were from South Africa! They don’t do their research and there’s nothing that can be said to change their minds. We’ve been in the business 45 years, we’re highly respected. We know our animals are well-treated and well-cared for and we can sleep very well at night.”
While Franklin Park Zoo boss, John Linehan, adds, "We have observed nothing but good care of the animals since they have been on site filming The Zookeeper at Franklin Park Zoo.”...
- 8/13/2009
- WENN
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