Friday, October 3, 2008
Movies Have Gone To The Dogs ... Again
By Melissa L. Kauffman, Editorial Director of BIRD TALK and BirdChannel.com
Share in the adventures of Melissa Kauffman's experiences in bird ownership in Life in the Bird House.
Ahhh, another weekend, another opening film. This time the movie is guaranteed to raise the awareness of the Chihuahua breed. (Check out the official site here) The movie will make them even more open to impulse adopting. Plus, they’ll also get more educational books, more breed-specific food and toys and more money behind health research. And that is how the double-edged sword of fame goes. The Chihuahua experts will now be given every opportunity to get out there and talk about either the breed or warning against impulse buying. My fellow co-worker, Allan Reznik, editor-at-large for Dog Fancy, Dog World and Dogs in Review magazine, plus one of the judges on CBS’s summer show, “The Greatest American Dog,” was immediately interviewed by NPR in a quickie segment regarding the opening of the film. You can listen to the interview here.
I have never been interviewed in the mass media regarding bird keeping. Nor has Laura Doering, the current editor of Bird Talk magazine. Sure, I’ve talked about it to pet-specific audiences, but never to non-bird lovers. No one wants to do a segment on keeping birds unless the bird is singing and dancing.
As the dog has taken over America, shoving other pet options into a dark corner of the public’s mind, some “bird people” believe it is a good thing. Sure, the less people who know about pet birds, the less pet birds end up in shelters. I completely agree. However, I am also in the unique position of being the editorial director of both Bird Talk and Pet Product News International magazine. This means I know the trends and the negative effects of being “unpopular.” I’ve watched the bird product market erode. Go into any PetSmart or PetCo and check out their dwindling shelves delegated to pet bird products. They’ve been replaced with sweaters, jackets and swimsuits for Chihuahuas. Also, as the financial prospects in the pet bird market dwindle, less companies are willing to put their resources and money into research, pharmaceuticals, better nutrition, etc.
I have five pets: three birds and two dogs. It frustrates me to no end in how much choice I have when making product purchase decisions regarding my dogs over my birds. So when I hear about yet another movie coming out about dogs (and by the way, there is another one coming out after this one), I just watch the double-edged sword start to swing.
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Movies Have Gone To The Dogs ... Again
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