He’s played a villain on the cult television hit Heroes and the iconic half-Vulcan Starship Enterprise first officer Spock in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. But today actor Zachary Quinto is hoping that his most recent acting role — that of rescue dog adopter — will help give shelter pets a chance to “live long and prosper.”
A Kickstarter campaign launched in November 2012 by Quinto and filmmaker friend Sian Heder earned over $30,000 from more than 300 supporters and allowed the pair to create Dog Eat Dog, a short film about the adventure of adopting your next best friend from an animal shelter.
The equal parts hilarious and touching 13-minute short debuted on YouTube’s pet channel, Petsami, last week. So far, over 105,000 dog lovers — and Zachary Quinto fans — have tuned in to watch the true story of how Quinto found his own dog, Noah.
“Years ago, when Zach first tried to adopt a dog from the pound, he ended up in a rivalry with an unexpected competitor,” Heder explains on the film’s Kickstarter page. “Sometimes real life offers up gems, and in my mind, this story has always begged to be a little film. I have decided it is best told as a dark and funny little fable about obsession, scheming and leaving things up to fate.”
Veteran character actor Philip Baker Hall co-stars in the sweet short as another man looking to adopt a shelter dog.
But perhaps the biggest stars of Dog Eat Dog are the dogs. It was important to the cast and crew that the film be shot at the local Humane Society shelter, so all of the four-legged actors aren’t actors at all — they are real rescue dogs.
“Our goal was to make an entertaining short film inspired by my outlandishly humorous — but true — experience of trying to adopt a dog for the first time,” Quinto says. “But we also want to raise awareness about pet rescues and inspire people to rescue their new pet instead of buying one.”
“There are so many beautiful dogs that need homes,” Quinto stresses. “The heart of this story is how much joy — and humor — can exist in trying to find the right match.”
The Mother Nature Network reports a portion of the Kickstarter campaign proceeds were donated to the Humane Society of the United States.
Sources: USAToday.com, Kickstarter.com, MNN.com
