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"The Elephant in the Living Room"

The Elephant in the Living Room Cleveland Film Forum

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Film Forum

Photo © Adrienne Kruzer

The Discussion

Mike Webber, Tim Harrison, and Steve Taylor discussed the movie, the characters, their roles in animal welfare and responded to audience questions after viewing Mr. Webber's film, "The Elephant in the Living Room."

Mike Webber, the filmmaker, explained this film was unscripted, took a few years to make, and he did his best to remain neutral to allow the viewer to form their own opinion of the situations shown.

Tim Harrison, the main character in the film, shared some of his personal views on his experiences and organization, and how he deeply cares for all the people involved in his former job.

Steve Taylor, the Cleveland Zoo Director, discussed the zoo's goals with wildlife preservation and education, while stressing they are not an outlet for unprepared dangerous animal owners.

How To Get Involved

Tim Harrison's organization, Outreach for Animals, is always in need of monetary donations for supplies and gasoline to help, and get to the places who need help with these animals.

Support the Humane Society of the United States and vote to pass laws to restrict uneducated and unprepared people from keeping, breeding, and selling dangerous animals as pets.

Make sure you, or someone you know who has exotic animals as pets gets them the appropriate veterinary care.

Disclosure: The company (Cleveland International Film Festival) provided free access to this film for review purposes. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

User Reviews

 5 out of 5
The Elephant In The Living Room, Member twb1953

This was the most interesting and emotionally draining film that I have had the pleasure of attending in a very long time . The controversail issue of owning exotic animals in this country is a difficult topic to discuss , because of the amount of money that is generated from the sale of these animals . There is also big money to be made in the so called rescue of these animals , after all a cage is a cage no matter how big ie> in a zoo or a santurary , or someones own personal property ! The fact is that animals excape cages ! Catch 21 ! Who wins !

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