Street Dogs of South Central

According to a press release from their myspace page “Street Dogs of South Central” is:

A nature documentary about the stray dogs that survive the streets of South Central Los Angeles, ‘Street Dogs’ follows the story of Elsie– a mother struggling to raise her litter of puppies in a harsh urban environment. 85 minutes running time. Coming to a theater near you in 2008.

The trailer – shown below – is both riveting and heartbreaking. 

As a trainer of dogs and student of dog behavior, I can’t wait to see the film.  The chance to see footage of feral dogs in their own environment is not something I’ll pass up.  Surfing around, I found that the film will be released by Lionsgate, the same group that released the controversial, disturbing — and fascinating documentary “Grizzly Man.”

“Grizzly Man” chronicles the life and death of bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell. The film includes fiilm shot by Treadwell before he and his girlfriend were killed and partially eaten by a bear in 2003.  I enjoyed the film because it showed incredible footage of bears and other northern wildlife in their native habitat – and because it didn’t romanticize Treadwell – who, frankly – was a charming, fascinating dimwit that did nearly everything he could to get himself killed.

I hope that “Street Dogs” suceeds as well as “Grizzly Man” did at presenting an unglamorized portrayal of the subjects of the documentary.  But because Animal Planet is also involved, I’ll have to wait to see.  

Have I mentioned that I hate Animal Planet?  You know, the group that either hypes adrenaline-junkie “grab the venomous snake before it KILLS you” trash or panders to AR extremists in promoting the “every dog who has visible ribs, spends time unsupervised in the yard or otherwise lives in a way that *I* don’t approve of is abused and MUST be seized” party line.  Or should I just rant about anthropomorphic crap like “Meerkat Manor” that encourages naive urbanites to see animals as small furry people who live in communities just like our own.

Oh…  Just considering the possibility that “Street Dogs” could get polluted that way scares the dog poo out of me.  Please doG – let this turn out to be a good thing.  For us — and for dogs.