An elephant in a living room. Lions in a trailer. A python in a wall.
Tim Harrison has seen it all. The Elephant in the Living Room, a new documentary by Michael Webber, follows Harrison on
his mission to protect humans and animals from each other. No, heÕs not after poachers in the Amazon or man-eating lions in Kenya.
He is a public safety officer in the city of Oakwood, near Dayton, Ohio.
Keeping exotic animals as pets in private homes has its obvious drawbacks:
Typical lack of space and contact with other animals deprives the animal of life experiences it is entitled to, and threatens its physical
and emotional health. The same shortage of running room means proximity to humans, who may frighten the animal, be frightened
by it, or simply become its meal. Still, Americans long for and choose to keep exotic pets. Why? Beasts in the wilderness are beautiful
and powerful, and symbolize something everyone covets in this freedom-obsessed country. One pet dealer interviewed argues against a
ban on exotic pet ownership; people are afraid and project their fears ÐÐ a whatÕs-good-for-me-is-good-enough-for-you mentality
prevails. (ItÕs my freedom vs. your freedom ÐÐ youÕve heard that before in the gun-control debate.)
Yet too many take the path to freedom without sufficient premeditation or preparation, sometimes with grave consequences.
An emergency-room doctor tells us that he sees more snake bites in Ohio than in Africa, where he worked for 25 years. A sanitation
worker relates his experience of finding the body of a young tiger shot dead at close range. Burmese pythons, set free when they
have outgrown their fishtank, have gone native and now populate a Florida grassland. More than 15,000 exotic big cats are living with
private owners in the U.S. As of 2010, 30 states allowed private ownership of predatory, exotic pets. Nine of those states did
not require any license or permits.
ÒThere is no good ending for big cats,Ó observes Harrison, armed with a tranquilizer gun, having been called to the scene of a cougar
sighting in Ohio, well out of natural habitat of the mountain lions. ItÕs clear on which side of the debate he stands, yet things are not as
clear-cut when Terry, a big bear of a man who keeps two adult lions in a large cage on his property, enters the picture. Having been injured in a truck accident nine years ago,
Terry has been on medication for pain and depression ever since. When
someone gave him lion cubs, a male he calls Lambert and a female named Lacie, it was love at first sight ÐÐ and more: It gave him
a reason to live.
What spoils the experience of viewing this otherwise worthy documentary is its soundtrack. Composer David E. Russo from the
first note keeps insisting ÒItÕs sad,Ó ÒItÕs wrong,Ó making redundant what is already an emotional subject. ItÕs as if the film doesnÕt
trust its protagonists: the passionate and articulate humans, and the silent creatures whose images speak volumes. A documentary
is not a news report, the filmmakers therefore are not obliged to make a pretense to impartiality. But The ElephantÕs heavy-handed
music score just about defeats its purpose. The already emotional scenes of Terry and Lambert are rendered nearly unwatchable.
When a real tragedy strikes, the tears have run dry.
