Z-Arts is pleased to offer the Zion Canyon Community

this extraordinary story of hope, encouragement and second chances. 

Should we not strive to provide every living creature a shot at happiness?

 

Sunday, January 22nd at 2:00 pm

Canyon Community Center

126 Lion Blvd, Springdale

~~~  Free Admission  ~~~

Panel discussion featuring local dog experts will follow

 

When the news broke that former Atlanta Falcons’ star quarterback Michael Vick was implicated in a long running illegal dog-fighting ring, the case shone a public light into the world of dog fighting.  It showed the human spirit at its most degraded, a world where men gather in secret to gamble and celebrate as dogs are forced to fight to their deaths.  Dogs that refused to fight were tortured, drowned, hanged, and electrocuted.

Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison, (none for animal cruelty), and later returned to lucrative high-profile career in the NFL.  Left behind in the aftermath were over 50 pit bulls who associated humans with brutality, fear, and fighting.  The judicial system had saved them from the ring, but what next?  The Humane Society of the United States considered them to be the most aggressively trained pit bulls in the country.  PETA described them as a “ticking time bomb.”  But, as one of the attorneys involved in the case explains, the general public and animal welfare advocates started asking the prosecutors “why do you have to kill these dogs?”  The prosecutor said he received more calls and emails about the fate of the dogs than when a terrorist was arrested.  The judge who decided their fate said he received over 3,000 emails and his assistant was taking 200 calls per day about the case at the time.

A handful of organizations stepped up to this challenge, recognizing the dogs as the victims and willing to give them a second chance. BADRAP, a pit bull focused advocacy and rescue organization based in Oakland CA, welcomed ten dogs with a variety of personalities and challenges into their foster network. Best Friends Animal Society agreed to take 22 dogs that no one else could, the dogs many considered the most challenging.  Even though the unique no-kill animal sanctuary, based in Southern Utah, had an extremely qualified and dedicated full-time staff of veterinarians, trainers, and caregivers, they were unsure whether or not they would succeed.  They hoped that with time, patience, and dedication, they could rehabilitate some, if not all of the dogs, and eventually find many of them loving adoptive homes.  Best Friends had taken on difficult dogs before in their almost 30 year history, but this would be their biggest challenge yet, and they were putting their reputation—and more importantly, that of the entire breed—on the line.

The documentary The Champions, follows five of the dogs, from the time they are first rescued through their adoption.  It is not just about the dogs themselves, but how they change and inspire the people who come into their lives.  It also follows-up with six dogs who remain at Best Friends to this day, some of them for life.  Thanks to the work of Best Friends and BADRAP, dozens of the dogs who would have summarily been killed were given a second chance to prove that even fighting dogs rescued from the most extreme circumstances can be successfully rehabilitated with love, time, and patience.  That in fact, what many of these dogs need to thrive isn’t rehabilitation at all, but time to recover.

     

Today, a majority of the dogs have successfully been placed into loving, adoptive homes.  Their story proves that even creatures who have suffered the most unimaginable abuse have amazing strength, spirit, and resilience. It is a story of the bonds of trust and love we have with animals and their importance in our lives, a relationship that has the potential to bring out the best in the human and animal spirit.

The film also highlights breed discrimination towards pit-bull type dogs and what that looks and feels like with a segment about professional baseball player Mark Buehrle and his family. Breed discrimination happens across the country and can take a number of different forms, but the Buehrle’s story is interesting because in an unusual twist of fate, and because of Mark’s career as a professional baseball pitcher, they experienced it both in Miami-Dade county and in Toronto. Their story is especially touching because while they have faced criticism for choosing that the family live apart from Mark during the season, it exemplifies the significance of people’s pets in their lives— one doesn’t simply walk away when there’s trouble once you’ve invited a pet to be part of the family.

And there is no better time for this topic.  There is much recent press surrounding the lack of accountability of the NFL and its players.  But more importantly, animal welfare issues are on the rise in our society today, from the conditions of animals in factory farms, fur farms, medical research, the exploitation of animals in the name of entertainment, and the unfair banning of pit-bull type dogs from various cities across the country, just because of their breed.  But if Mahatma Gandhi was right that “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated,” this story offers up reasons for hope and signs of progress, and provides an inspirational message for our time.

 

Click Here to Watch The Trailer

 

 

To learn more about the

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab,

plan a visit, or give a donation, click here.

 

 

Our Panel of Local Experts shall include:

 

Filomena “Filly” Diaz Johnson is the owner/operator of the 10 acre DOGGY DUDE RANCH (an innovation leader in less stress pet care) for over 25 years.  Filly has over 45+ years experience in pet care, as a vet tech, trainer and behaviorist consultant.  She has worked with many local resources including Best Friends fostering, rehabbing and re-homing countless dogs as well as other species.  For over 20 years Filly worked as Animal Liason (animal control) between the towns of Springdale, Rockville, and Virgin.  She continues her education with classes, workshops and webinars in training and nutrition.  By the end of this summer, she plans to complete her certification in Canine conditioning.  Filly and her husband, Stephen, have six dogs, plus one foster, two cats, one horse and twenty chickens.

 

Linda Peterson has recently purchased a home in Rockville.  As a 6th grader, she found an Animal Health Technician career pamphlet and by age 16, she was employed in a veterinary hospital.  After obtaining her veterinary degree and state license, she worked for several more years as a vet tech until the opportunity to work in an Animal Shelter arose.  Her five years at the county shelter as an Animal Control Officer (ACO) opened her eyes to the true need for animal rescue and protection.  The following ten years Linda managed the veterinary division of two City Animal Shelters and worked in the field as an ACO.  She was fortunate to work in cities with very large budgets, enabling a 95-98% adoption rate, far higher than the poorly funded county shelter.  When her daughter was born in 1999, she retired from working with animals to run the family business, but she has continued to work with local rescue groups to assist in adoptions, fund raising, etc.  She lives with her husband and 17 year old daughter as well as three cats and three dogs, all of whom are rescues.  Her dog Radar was adopted from Filly at Doggy Dude Ranch seven years ago.

 

Crissy Crismon has had a relationship with dogs all her life.  She trained the family pets and got her first Irish Setters in 1972.  From those wonderful companions, Crissy gained great understanding of training and the differences in dog personalities, both breed related and individually.  In 1987 Crissy got one of the loves of her life, a German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) named Kuki.  For almost 17 years the two were inseparable.  During those 17 years, other dogs, cats, horses and goats would come in and out of her family, each bringing training insights.  When Crissy retired from her career in 2005, she got two more GSP’s followed by two Belgian Tervurens.  With time now to train and show full time, these dogs excelled in companion events such as agility, obedience and rally obedience.  Together these dog teams won ribbons, got titles and made for some great experiences.  Whether demonstrating or teaching, Crissy is active in many dog sporting events.  She is currently helping friends train their own dogs in her neighborhood.

 

Thank you to the Town of Springdale and the Canyon Community Center for supporting this event