Thursday, July 17, 2008

Book Review by Whitney

Kicked, Bitten and Scratched

Author: Amy Sutherland

Type: Non-Fiction

Subject: Life and lessons at the World's Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers.

Summery: Journalist Amy Sutherland, takes a year long look at Morrpark College's exotic animal training and management program if California. The students are essentially cut off from family and friends for two straight years and intensively train in the dangerous, yet potentially rewarding career of animal husbandry. She tells it as it is, not at all masking over the danger, controlled chaos, adrenalin, or blood loss. She follows the students of this program for a year as they make their way through their training. Students range from aspiring dolphin trainers, to retired plumbers. She tells of the many different events of the year 2005 ranging from Lulu the camel giving birth, to the big fire. (They didn't have a fire plan at the time and the first years found themselves trying to shove random animals into crates and cars while the advancing California flames claimed casualties.) I can only say it had greatly influenced my plans for future careers.

Rating: 10 out of 10 AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME.

Recommended for ages 12 and up. Has some things that smaller kids wouldn't understand.

1 comment:

Andy and Marsha Gibbons said...

I saw some people trying to load a horse into a regular horse triler once. The horse didn't want to go, and it thrashed about in a way that could have injured itself and its handlers. I felt bad that the horse couldn't see that there was no harm intended.