‘The Elephant in the Room’
Directed by Michael Webber
5 p.m. Tuesday in the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center at Miami Hamilton, 1601 University Blvd., Hamilton
5 p.m. Wednesday in the Campus & Community Center at Miami Middletown, 4200 N. University Blvd., Middletown
Miami University regional campuses will host screenings of the documentary “The Elephant in the Living Room,” which examines both sides of the exotic animal ownership debate.
The film follows the life of animal advocate Tim Harrison, a Dayton-area police officer who has spent more than 30 years rescuing people from dangerous animals being kept as common household pets.
According to the film’s producers, he has personally captured and rescued hundreds of lions, tigers, bears, alligators, crocodiles and deadly snakes running loose in the United States.
He was present in Zanesville after the release of more than 50 exotic animals earlier this month.
Harrison began learning about these animals at the age of 16 when he would help a local zoo veterinarian make house calls to various pet owners, but after several years, the veterinarian moved from the area and Tim was left to field the many calls that came in from exotic pet owners throughout Ohio.
It was only until he became a police officer in Oakwood that he began to see first-hand the deadly consequences of owning such dangerous animals and eventually committed himself to seeing the laws changed.
In 2005, there were more emergency calls for nuisance alligators in Ohio than some areas of Florida, producers said.
In many parts of America, the law requires a dog license to own a poodle, but nothing to keep a pet tiger in your backyard, raise a chimpanzee in your home or keep a crocodile in your bathtub, and sightings of these exotic animals are reported all over the U.S.
The film examines the cases of an escaped African lion stopping traffic on a highway in Ohio, a chimpanzee running loose through a Connecticut neighborhood, a Burmese python killing a child in Florida and a tiger found on the side of the road in Dallas.
The free screenings will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center at Miami Hamilton, and at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Campus & Community Center at Miami Middletown.
Harrison will be present for a question and answer session following both screenings.
For more information, call (513) 217-4184.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.
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