Humane Heroes
- 1. Prison Dog Programs
- 2. Eye on the Witness
- 3. Wyatt to the Rescue
- 4. Edward Gorey
- 5. Fashion Forward (Heather Chase)
- 6. New England Wildlife Center
- 7. Animal Sanctuaries
- 8. Ojai Raptor Center
- 9. Search and Rescue Dogs
- 10. The Catman of Millbrook Farm
Eye on the Witness
Tracy Epp, ASPCA
He drives slowly through the streets of New York, taking in the expressions of the people who stop to gaze at the images that play from his van. The camera glides from one horrified face to another and slowly makes its way back to him. He looks solemn. He has been witness to this scene many times, and has watched many bystanders have epiphanies, much like the one that changed his life. He is Eddie Lama, a Brooklyn, New York, native and subject of the award-winning documentary, The Witness.
Lama’s story begins in the mid-1970s, when he was attacked and left to die “like an animal” on a New York sidewalk. No one came to his aid. But Lama didn’t die, and that’s when this substance abuser and street tough made some life-altering decisions. “I used to like walking into a bar with my jewelry on and a good-looking girl at my side and buying everyone in the place a drink,” he says, in a thick Brooklyn accent. But after the attack, Lama started to focus on helping others who were down. He stopped drinking and doing drugs. His general contracting business prospered, and he donated his time and money to homeless and indigent people. “It was like my circle of compassion grew,” he says. “I became an advocate for what I call ‘disempowered’ humans.”
Some years later, a friend asked him to cat sit. “My motives were selfish,” he says sheepishly. “She was a very pretty woman and I wanted to, you know, get in good with her. But something happened to me. I watched the cat play and saw its range of emotions, and I realized how similar we all are—and how vulnerable.” His circle of compassion had widened again, and Eddie Lama the animal advocate was born.
Coming to a Sidewalk Near You
Lama’s newfound interest in animals brought him to an
anti-fur protest where activists were demonstrating on behalf of
their “fur-bearing friends,” using powerful images of
animal cruelty. Lama was deeply moved by the bloody pictures and
realized that in our visually driven society, traditional
protesting was not too successful. The rally had sparked an idea:
Instead of trying to get people to hear the message of animal
welfare through protesting and pamphlet pushing, he would bring a
visual message to the mainstream.
Using nothing more than a TV and an old van, Lama went to work building the platform from which his message would play. When the refitted van, which he called “FaunaVision,” was ready, Lama took to the streets, cruising slowly through local neighborhoods while video footage of animal cruelty played on the TV screen. FaunaVision featured a sound system and a message board with a running display of animal welfare information. It was crude, but it worked. Lama didn’t ask for money, nor did he push information packets on the passersby. He simply let the tape roll. And just as he had hoped, the people on the sidewalk began to approach him. From the start, he says, reaction to FaunaVision was “invariably positive.”
It was also around this time that Lama began noticing the stray cats and dogs who loitered in the alleyways of the neighborhoods where he worked. He started picking up the abandoned animals and placing them in homes. “Let’s just say I’ve got a lot of friends,” he laughs. “But it got to a point where there was just no more room.”
A Place to Call Home
In 1998, Lama founded Oasis Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter situated
on 60 acres of land in North Branch, New York. Today, Oasis
Sanctuary is home to many species of animals, including cats,
dogs, pigs, chickens and rabbits. It also serves as a temporary
home for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts who come to the
sanctuary to live and work in a nonviolent, vegetarian
environment. Lama calls Oasis Sanctuary a “synthesis of his
passions” because it combines his love for helping animals
with his desire to help people.
Meanwhile, producer James LaVeck and director Jenny Stein, founders of independent film studio Tribe of Heart, had been searching for a subject for their documentary about people who had life-changing awakenings. They knew Lama was their man. “Eddie is living proof of something we all hope is true—that people are good at heart, and that any person, from any background, can transform his life,” says LaVeck. In the summer of 2000, Tribe of Heart released The Witness. The film has received critical acclaim and numerous film festival awards, and continues to be a favorite among educators and activists, who hold screenings all over the country.
Lama has since donated the original FaunaVision van and now pilots a state-of-the-art vehicle loaded with the latest technology. “It’s eyeball-popping,” he says. “It has cameras that let us capture the reactions of the people we pass.” And Oasis Sanctuary is thriving—there are now eight full-time employees. His future plans include opening a veterinary clinic in Manhattan, where he will offer new graduates the opportunity to anchor themselves and establish a practice at greatly reduced costs. Though stretched thin, Lama says he will continue his work as an animal advocate. “The responsibilities are never ending. But I’m up to the challenge.”
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For More Information To donate to Oasis Sanctuary, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, contact them at 163 Third Avenue, Suite 320, New York, NY 10003, (212) 459-4825; info@oasissanctuary.org. Tribe of Heart, P.O. Box 149, Ithaca, NY 14851, (607) 275-0806; mail@tribeofheart.org; www.tribeofheart.org. Copies of The Witness may be purchased for $20, plus $4 shipping and handling. |
© 2002 ASPCA
ASPCA Animal Watch - Summer 2002
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