ANIMAL ACTORS IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE

ANIMAL ACTORS IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE

LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- A dog trainer in Los Angeles has a bone to pick with Hollywood's special effects departments: you're putting dogs out of work. Captain Art Haggerty -- who's been an animal trainer for 50 years -- claims today's animal actors are losing jobs to human computer graphics technicians. He says today's movie crews are in love with expensive special effects and use them even when they're not needed -- like the director who spent $1300 on a high-tech mechanical dog leg for a scene of a dog lifting its leg. The trainer also thinks spending money on computer graphics to make animal actors look like they're speaking is ridiculous because all that's needed is a pre-chewed piece of caramel stuck on the pet's teeth. Captain Haggerty is the author of a new book, "How To Teach Your Dog To Talk" (Fireside Books).