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HBO: Tell us how you both came to the project.
Tom Simon:About six years ago, I started developing the
idea of a film that would look at the use of
animals in medical research, the conditions in
which they were used, and what the benefits
were of using them. And it was going to be
kind of a fairly traditional journalistic
approach, but one that would, of necessity,
use images of animals, some of which were in
great distress and in bad situations because
that's often what happens when they're used
in research. I pitched it everywhere, and it
became clear to me that there was really only
one place that could handle a subject that
was both so emotionally charged and so
graphic, and that was HBO.
At that point we had to go and find the
subject of the film, really, because we knew
we wanted to work with undercover animal
rights activists, and there aren't that many of
them. We started with People for Ethical
Treatment of Animals. And we'd also heard a
little about Last Chance for Animals.
Sarah Teale: We had a meeting with Chris De Rose from
Last Chance For Animals, and in the initial
research that Tom had done about this issue,
we knew about Martin Creek Kennels, and its
owner C.C. Baird. He was the most notorious
B dealer of dogs. B dealer means that he can
buy dogs that are considered random source.
In other words, he can buy dogs from anybody
who claims they own the dog and, and raise
the dog themselves. He also can buy dogs
from animal shelters that are unclaimed. And as you see in the film, these dogs are
often bought for fifteen or twenty dollars at
country flea markets. Many of them are
suspected to be stolen pets.
So we met Chris De Rose in my office in New
York. Tom and I were there. Chris De Rose
dropped the hint that they were trying to get
someone undercover at Martin Creek Kennels.
And the good thing about Tom having done so
much research was we knew right away how
significant that was, and how potentially
exciting. And so we set off following these
four different people, and one of them is the
character (in the film) called Pete.
Tom Simon: We spent an incredible couple of days with
these guys. I was able to shoot Pete in this
shithole trailer that he lived in, getting
dressed for work, wiring himself up with his
cameras and microphones, and going off to
work in this place.
HBO: Explain a little bit about the equipment he
used.
Tom Simon: He uses a hidden camera. We do not disclose
a lot of specifics about the camera because we
feel it would compromise the security of other
people who are doing the kind of work that he
is doing - some of which are law enforcement
people, too, by the way. But he wears a
hidden camera on his person, a separate
hidden microphone and it fed into a very tiny,
mini-DV recorder that he strapped to himself.
So you see in the film him putting all this
complicated equipment on and essentially
wearing two pairs of clothing, one to conceal
the equipment, and one on the outside that
he worked in. And he shot over seventy hours
of footage during the five months while he was
undercover.
And as you can see in the film, it's pretty
powerful stuff. And the USDA, which licenses
B dealers, has fairly comprehensive rules
about the conditions in which dogs are
supposed to be kept by them -- requirements
about the amount of cage space, the access to
veterinary care, food, cleanliness. And
basically, what Pete was doing was
documenting both the violations of the USDA
regulations, which fall under the Animal
Welfare Act, and the means by which he
seemed to acquire these dogs, and dispose of
the dogs. I mean, one of the most harrowing
sequences in the film is a visit that we made
to what's known as "the Trench," which is an
area on Baird's property. It's an open trench
some hundred feet long that contains the
carcasses in various stages of decay of dogs
that were disposed of from the kennel. A lot
of them died of disease, a lot of them died
because they were over-crowded and they
were in fights.
HBO: What might have happened to Pete had his
true identity been revealed?
Tom Simon: I mean, he has two huge things weighing on
his mind: One is his own safety because the
guys in the kennel talked all the time about
animal rights people and what they would do
if they ever found one. The other thing is the
incredible moral dilemma he felt seeing dogs
be terribly mistreated, and suffering and not
being able to save them in the way that he
would like to. One of the most horrific scenes
in the film is the story of a little black dog who
one of the kennel guys claimed was a "biter."
And he was summarily taken out and shot in
the head. And Pete got it on camera. It's
pretty rough stuff.
HBO: So after six months of undercover taping, he
then takes his footage to federal authorities. What happened?
Tom Simon: Well, the wheels of justice ground slowly.
Just to give you an idea of kind of the time
line: Pete leaves his job in May of 2002 and
within a couple months turns over the
evidence to the U.S. Attorney. And it takes a
year for the raid to take place. The raid takes
place August 26th, 2003. Then for there to be
any legal action it takes until March 11th of
2004. The USDA issues a complaint against
Baird charging severe mistreatment and
neglect of animals, falsification of health
certificates, et cetera. And it was a huge
complaint, but he's still buying dogs at the
same flea market we shot him at. And it takes
until the end of January of last year, 2005, for
him to lose his license and pay the largest fine
ever imposed under the Animal Welfare Act.
And still the feds haven't acted. There's really
two legal actions going on: The civil action
under the Animal Welfare Act done by the
USDA and then this criminal action that
finally comes to bear fruit August 31st of 2005,
where he pleads guilty to one count of money
laundering conspiracy. And he surrenders
over a million dollars worth of land and pays a
stiff fine. But he still hasn't been sentenced
yet. And he faces up to ten years in jail and
another million dollars in fines.
Sarah Teale: The good thing about HBO is that they have
the bigger picture in mind. And Last Chance
for Animals has a bill in Congress called The
Pet Safety and Protection Act. And they have
been trying to get this through for many
years. So there is a bigger plan to basically
stop using B dealers.
Tom Simon: The bill would essentially outlaw the use of B
dealers these guys who were allowed to buy
dogs from random sources where there is so
much room for abuse, as opposed to from
legitimate breeders.
HBO: What do you hope audiences will take away
from the film?
Sarah Teale: Well, there is a bigger issue, which is that the
USDA is supposed to inspect these dealers.
There aren't enough USDA inspectors to go
around, but many of them don't do their job.
And so we hope that there is a rethink within
the USDA about actually inspecting these
dealers.
Tom Simon: The USDA is not only charged with inspecting
B dealers, but they are charged with
inspecting the research labs themselves.
There's a huge amount of animal facilities that
are under the aegis of the USDA. They're
woefully understaffed. Many would say that
they're totally in the pocket of industry, and
that their enforcement is very lax. People
need to be aware of the fact that, that the
government's protection of animals is really in
need of examination and redress.
HBO: And the animals that were rescued from the kennel have all found homes?
Tom Simon: Yes.
Sarah Teale: They were all adopted.
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