DawnWatch: LA Times on Disney decision to include breed warnings with DVDS — 7/29/06
July 29th, 2006 7:17 pm by Kelly GarbatoWay cool.
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From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 29, 2006 6:33 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: LA Times on Disney decision to include breed warnings with DVDS 7/29/06
The Saturday, July 29 Los Angeles Times includes an article headed, “Doggone It, That’s Good Advice. Disney includes DVD inserts to discourage viewers from buying a tail-wagger on impulse.”
It tells us:
“The American Kennel Club and Walt Disney Co., aware of the potential for popular films about dogs to inspire not just love at first sight but also spontaneous purchasing, joined forces last month to head off what could be called the ’101 Dalmatians’ effect, when the “Eight Below” DVD went on sale. For the first time, an insert was packaged inside each DVD warning wannabe Maya owners that ‘The Siberian Husky is a beautiful and intelligent dog, but not right for everyone.’ When ‘The Shaggy Dog’ is released Tuesday, it will contain a similar informational insert on bearded collies.
About the ’101 Dalmatians effect’ we read:
“Many people enamored with the spotted puppy stars of Disney’s 1996 live action “101 Dalmatians” learned the hard way about living with a big screen beauty. Dalmatians are cute, but they’re also a high-energy breed with great endurance. Like many active breeds, their frustration can turn into destructive, neurotic behavior if they don’t get enough exercise. The Dalmatian that chews up the furniture because it’s been left alone all day often winds up in a shelter, or worse, abandoned.”
The articles notes:
“The AKC insert directs people to the group’s website, www.AKC.org , and specific breed websites, for more information.”
Though of course that is better than sending no warning, what a shame people are directed to the AKC website rather than their local humane society or rescue group. The article presents a great opportunity for letters about the joys of adoption.
You can read the whole piece on line at
www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/homeentertainment/ OR tinyurl.com/ka2uf and send a letter to letters [at] latimes.com
My thanks to Marjorie Loeb for making sure we saw this story.
Yours and the animals’,
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at www.DawnWatch.com. To unsubscribe, go to www.dawnwatch.com/cgi-bin/dada/dawnwatch_unsubscribe.cgi
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