Animals audition for ‘Top Dog’ status

Last Sunday, talented pets and proud humans headed to Westland in search of stardom—or at least their 15 minutes of fame.

At the Michigan Humane Society Berman Center for Animal Care on Newburgh, animals of all descriptions lined up to vie for a chance to perform on national television during the stupid pet tricks segment of The Late Show with David Letterman.

Now all the contenders can do is wait and see. During the next few weeks, the producers of the show will review the audition tapes from the talent search in Westland and from similar events throughout the country in search of the most unique and entertaining pets. The acts they deem the best will be invited to New York for an appearance on the Late Show.

There will be plenty to choose from, too. From a horse that dunked basketballs to a counting dog, tricks of virtually every description were showcased. The only requirement was that each stunt had to be safe, humane, and appropriate for both the animals and humans involved.

Michael Robbins, director of marketing and communications for the Michigan Humane Society said that representatives from the Letterman told him that between 30-35 contenders was about the average turnout for this type of audition, rather than the 54 contestants Sunday.

“It wasn’t their largest turnout ever, but it was well above average,” he said.

While the vast majority of the contestants were dogs, there was a variety of animal life represented.

“We had a cat, we had a duck, we had a pony, we had a couple of birds and there was even a sloth,” Robbins said.

A representative from the show was impressed with the talent, too.

“He thought there were a couple that stood a good chance of making the show,” Robbins said. “He said they are hoping for a September episode, so we should find out soon.”

Although a handful of real contenders out of more than 50 auditions might not seem too impressive, Robbins said that representatives of the show told him it’s actually on the high side. He said that the figures they had given to him indicated that only about one out of every 100 contenders would make it onto the show.

At least two of the animals that participated were never expected to win the competition, though. Mark Rosenthal of Animal Magic, a Belleville-based non-profit organization dedicated to exotic animal conservation and public education about animals, decided to bring “the world’s biggest sloth” and a blue and gold macaw to the tryout with a different goal in mind.

“I did not go there to win the stupid pet tricks competition,” he said. “These animals are not pets.”

Instead, he said that he hopes to parlay the open audition into a chance to bring his animal education programs before an even larger audience—Letterman’s. Rosenthal added that they attended simply to let the producers of the show know that his programs — which combine exotic animals, education, and magic—exist.

“The odds are the Letterman show will be interested,” he said. “I’m the only one, as far as we know, who does this anywhere in the country and I have animals zoos don’t have.”

Even people without a talented pet of their own were able to enjoy the show, Robbins said, and two sets of bleachers and a large seating area for audience members remained consistently full.

“The crowd turnout was probably the biggest plus for us,” he added. “It just seemed like the community really came out to support us.”

The majority of the attendees were from the Detroit area—including a Westland dog trained to ‘sing’ on cue—although Robbins said that a few people actually came in from out of state to participate.

In the end, Robbins said that the event “couldn’t have gone better.” He was particularly pleased, he said, by the quantity—and quality—of people and pets that participated in various ways.

“They showed Detroit’s commitment to their love for animals,” he said. “It was outstanding.”

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