El Capitan Theatre Educational Event

November 22 through December 9, 2000

Early in October 2000 we discovered that Disney planned to display live Dalmatian puppies at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, CA during the release of their "102 Dalmatians" film. Most Dalmatian lovers were appalled that Disney would do such a thing that was guaranteed to make impulse buying of Dalmatian puppies even worse. Dr. Charles Garvin, President of the Dalmatian Club of America, tried to convince Disney to cancel the puppy display but was not successful. He then negotiated with Disney to permit Dalmatian clubs and rescue organizations to bring adult Dalmatians to the theatre and talk with the moviegoers about responsible pet ownership.

Dr. Garvin contacted Terri Haase, president of Save the Dalmatians and member of the Dalmatian Club of Southern California, and asked her to recruit and schedule volunteers to cover 12 hours a day or more for the entire 18 day run of the movie. Although Save the Dalmatians does not condone the display of Dalmatian puppies for commercial purposes, Terri agreed with Dr. Garvin that it was better for rescue groups and Dal clubs to be at the theatre with adult Dalmatians and try to educate the moviegoers than to boycott it, especially because Disney planned to go through with the puppy display regardless.

Terri put out the call for help on various Dalmatian lists and received tremendous response! Christine Bishofberger, a Dal rescuer from Wisconsin and Dalsavers board member, flew out to Southern California at her own expense to participate. Diana Sterle of Spotted Paw Rescue and Meg Callea of the Puget Sound Dalmatian Club flew down from Washington state. Janet Langford Gray and Lesley Ames, both of the Dalmatian Club of Northern California, drove 6+ hours down to help us out. In addition, many Dalmatian Club of Southern California members and Dal rescue group representatives participated. Elizabeth Longo and Alex Quintanilla drove 3 hours down from Ridgecrest, CA. Debi Crowe Gomez of Antelope Valley Dalmatian Rescue and Sherry and Ashley Lawrence drove all the way down from Lancaster, CA. The dedication of the volunteers was just wonderful!

As scheduling for the Rescue Room, progressed, a surprising development occurred. Disney contacted Terri and asked her to also arrange volunteers for the puppy display room, explaining that they had planned to have Disney staff in the room but due to the way the puppy display was up high on a stage behind plexiglas, the staff wouldn't be accessible to the public. Disney also agreed that for every hour the puppy display room was staffed by volunteers, Disney would donate $20 per hour to Dalsavers, our national Dalmatian rescue organization. The donation is a first for Disney and will amount to several thousand dollars. Dalsavers plans to distribute the funds to its member rescue organizations all over the United States of America.

Terri was given a tour of the "Dog House" prior to the beginning of the event and was very impressed with the lengths the Disney people had gone to incorporate Dalmatian and responsible pet ownership information into the decor of the rooms. The rescue room was equipped with a picket fence area for the volunteers to stand in with their dogs. The puppy display room had an area in front of the stage where the volunteers could stand and distribute flyers and answer questions.

Newspaper advertisements for "102 Dalmatians" at the El Capitan contained the statement the event was being offered with the advice and guidance of the spcaLA, Save the Dalmatians, Ariel Rescue and the Dalmatian Club of America. It even stated that for Dalmatian information, the reader should visit the DCA's web site at www.thedca.org This was truly a first for any theatre to include a statement of this nature. We feel that any movie featuring any sort of animal should have a similar statement so that the public can get more information about the animal instead of impulsively buying one.

Disney also included a statement at the end of the film before the credits that said they along with the ASPCA and DCA support responsible pet ownership and discourage impulse buying. All movies featuring animals should have this kind of statement but preferably at the beginning of the film so that everyone sees it.

The first day finally arrived and volunteers began arriving for their shifts with their dogs. The moviegoers swarmed into the various rooms of the Dog House, especially the puppy display room and the rescue room because they wanted to see live Dalmatians. We were able to distribute thousands of educational brochures and flyers to the over 100,000 people who visited the Dog House during the movie's 18 day run. Without exception the volunteers all had a great time and their Dalmatians seemed to really enjoy the attention of the children.

The Disney people treated our volunteers extremely well, reimbursing them for parking and on Thanksgiving Day, treating them to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Many Disney employees expressed sympathy for the plight of the Dalmatians since 1996 and shared stories of their own dogs they had rescued from shelters.

The channel 4 news team came out to the Dog House on Thanksgiving Day and interviewed Terri and the other volunteers about our efforts to educate the public about Dalmatians in the wake of the newest Disney movie. They filmed the cute little puppies as well as Megan, a Dalmatian available from Save the Dalmatians, and Bobbie, the Dalmatian available from Pet Orphans Fund. They also filmed Janet Langford Gray getting her face thoroughly kissed by one of her Dalmatians.

We feel this event was a tremendous success thanks to the hard work of our dedicated volunteers. We would like to thank the following:

Dalmatian Club of Southern California: Chris Kasten, Marianne and Cathy Lovejoy, Maggie and Cassidy Jackson, Connie Brown, Terri Bailey, Tammy Geary and her daughter Stacey Astenius, Paula Hollingsworth, Cyndy Wood, Lyra Partch, and Elaine Gewirtz and her husband Steve.

Save the Dalmatians and Others Canine Rescue: Abigail Bok, Robin Skov, Arthur Greenwald, Kathy Wyer, Linda Brice, Avarie Shevin, Tery Robertson, Manuel Solano, Terry Anne Kelly, Michael Checkor, Carrie Hickert, Katherine Quinlog, Tobi Raymond, Jenetta Seng, Jason Gee, Miriam Estrada, Suzi Wahl, Beth Arntz, Ed & Jeannie Eckart, Denise Fleck, Maggie Esquiroz, Tara DeBach, Chris Markert, Matt Dabrowski, Bobbi Lynn Riley, Joey & Sarah Anderson, Cheryl Craig, Shell Forman, Carole Pearson, Tracy & Marshall Capman, Elizabeth Longo, Alex Quintanilla, Laura Beth Heisen, Steven Sunshine, Ray Szymonek, Lisa Rivera, Kathy Edstrom, David & Jennifer Gomez, Patricia Vega, Jennifer Erickson, Sherry & Ashley Lawrence, Stephanie Lacy and Barbara Beck.

Dalmatian Club of Northern California: Janet Langford Gray, Lesley Ames.

Dalmatian Assistance League/Dalsavers (Wisconsin): Christine Bishofberger

Antelope Valley Dalmatian Rescue: Debi Crowe-Gomez, Gail McKenzie

Pet Orphans Fund: Arlene Ober, Mychelle & John Blake, Robin Olin, Jerri Miller, Cynthia Sherman, Sara Golden, Tracy Rukenbrod, Hilary Apperson

Spotted Paw Dalmatian Rescue (Washington State): Diana Sterle

Puget Sound Dalmatian Club (Washington State): Meg Callea

Los Angeles Animal Services: Felice Catena, Joyce Forrest, Cindy Grant, Alisa Merlin

New Leash on Life: Devon Anderson, Ellie Kligman

SCPaw: Gayl Marie Anglin

Brittany Foundation: Erin Johnson

Little Angels Pug Rescue: Sherrie Woodbury, Yukie DeSoto

Friends for Pets: Dayna Cussler, Micky Levy

Volunteers from Ariel Rescue and spcaLA also participated. It was a tremendous effort from many different groups and individuals, even some non-Dalmatian rescue volunteers who sympathized with our cause and came to distribute Dal flyers and brochures. We even had a celebrity volunteer, Barbara Beck, who is the news anchor for channel 5 morning news, come and work a morning shift on Thanksgiving Day.

The public's response to our presence in the Dog House was very positive. Many said they wished Disney had done this before. We hope in the future that Disney will continue to work with us for any other Dalmatian movies they plan to release, and hopefully that will not be for a very long time as we have not yet recovered from 1996's "101 Dalmatians".

Here are additional photos of the event