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| Michelle De Long: Her doc shows the growing movement toward animal rights law. |
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| Attorney Amy Breyer is Illinois’ only practicioner of animal rights law. |
If you’re one of the country’s 64 million pet owners, you’ll have a special interest in Michelle De Long’s provocative documentary-in-progress. Two years ago while casting about for a compelling documentary subject, she met attorney Amy Breyer, who is Illinois’ sole practioner of the little known specialty of animal rights law.
After talking at length with Breyer, De Long became fascinated with the subject and embarked on two years’ worth of research and interviews for doc titled “Man’s Dominion,” taken from Genesis when God proclaimed man had dominion over animals.
Shooting on betacam in 16:9 format, De Long has accumulated 35 hours of footage that will be edited into a two-hour show to be completed this spring.
“We have so much material, and the issues are so huge, that it’s impossible to squeeze it all into an hour,” she said.
The doc’s main thrust is showing that a change in animal care and abuse laws would define humans as guaradians of animals, not owners, De Long explained.
“This will give the animals an advocate court. The guardian, just like the guardian of a mental handicapped adult, would be the voice for the animal in court should any misfortune befall the animal,” she said.
The complex and controversial animal rights movement that’s underway in the U.S. is “similar to the environmental law movement in the ?70s,” she added.
“Man’s Dominion” follows through the Wisconsin court system a brutal and deadly attack on 10-year Alicia Clark by six adult Rottweilers while visiting her best friend. The dog owners were charged with homocide using a 26-year old but never used Wisconsin statute.
This dramatic story asks the question, “Are we, as human owners or guardians, responsible for the actions our pets, and what is our responsibility to the domesticated animals that live with us?”
It also asks: “Do we truly have dominion over the animals and what does that mean?” “And does American law reflect this religious concept or is it based on the morals and ethics of society?”
Interwoven with the Clark case are sections on the growing movement, animal rights law attorney Amy Breyer and some of her important cases, the author of a two books providing the science behind animal rights, and the organizations opposed to the movement, such as the multi-billion dollar pet industry and the American Veterinary Medical Association.
De Long and her crew have shot around Chicago and in Wisconsin, at Harvard for the first National Animal Advocacy Moot Court Competition and have five more locations to cover, including Washington, D.C. to follow the Humane Society around the Capitol and to interview a Christian right representative in Nashville.
With most westernized countries having changed the language in their law to show that animals are entities in themselves and not just a inanimate objects, De Long, an NBC news editorial supervisor permalancer, and head of her own Mimi Productions, had produced arts and culture shows for the Dept. of Cultural Affairs for several years. After the shows were canceled, De Long said she “wrote and produced pilots that didn’t go anywhere.” Animal rights law was immediately intriguing and “Man’s Dominion” has been in production since January, 2002.
De Long is the doc’s producer, director, writer and editor. Associate producer is Sarah Pagura. Principal DP is Tim Horstman, along with DPs Dave Weaver and David Miller. Steve Quinn is graphic artist.
The film has been granted fiscal sponsorship by the International Documentary Association, a non-profit California agency that allows the film to apply for grants that only fund 501(c)3 companies.
De Long can be reached at 773/267-4640; Email, mdelong@mimiproductions.com; see www.mimiproductions.com.
