Lessons to Moldova

As Angela Speed, community relations director at the Wisconsin Humane Society, led a film crew through the shelter’s facilities, a producer stood to the side admiring the dogs as onlookers eavesdropped. A reporter simultaneously became enamored with and snapped pictures of the shelter’s orphaned raccoons. A cameraman rushed by to capture images of the shelter’s cartoon pet murals.

What exactly was the film crew doing there? Filming a documentary for their home country, Moldova. That’s right. A Moldovan film crew spent the second weekend in July touring Milwaukee non-profits – such as the shelter – to get content for a four-part series they are creating about civic engagement in the United States.

But first, some geography: Those who had geography class before 1991 might not recognize Moldova. That’s because until 1991, this small, landlocked country between Romania and Ukraine was actually a part of the Soviet Union.

The film crew is taking part in a U.S. State Department program that funds documentary projects about the United States for foreign country audiences. “Not CNN. Not NBC. Not Fox … it’s Moldovans telling Moldovans about America,” says Bill McGuire, a Russian language specialist and former State Department worker who organized the trip. The State Department does not edit any of the material, but applicants from former Soviet bloc countries must be under age 30 to lessen Soviet influence.

This time, reporter Andrei Bolocan, producer Anastasia Condruc and cameraman Ion Neagu got the shot. While they visited Milwaukee’s Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter and Catholic Charities among others, the Wisconsin Humane Society stands out as the only animal shelter in the country they toured.

Bolocan interviewed Speed with a puppy in her hand. Neagu followed. They toured the Dogtown kennel area and got a behind-the-scenes look at the shelter’s wildlife programs. Speed discussed how spaying and neutering dogs and cats 30 years ago has made Wisconsin’s animal population manageable today.

As in many countries – and even areas of the United States ­– there are too many stray dogs in Moldova due to overpopulation. In neighboring Bucharest, Romania, there are around 70,000 bites reported a day. Bolocan, who has his own news show on cable network Jurnal TV in Moldova and is something of a national celebrity, says the country is starting to vaccinate dogs and build safer shelters.

Speed says community involvement – through donations, volunteering and adoption – are the key to the shelter’s success. And while Bolocan was impressed with the facility, he does not think Moldovans have a similar community-minded ethos to support such organizations – yet. “The toughest part is that you have to get sponsored by someone,” he says. “Unfortunately back at home in Moldova, you couldn’t find a lot of people interested in that kind of thing, but hopefully in a couple of years we’ll be doing fine.”

And that’s where the documentary comes in.

Bolocan hopes the program will help give Moldovans ideas for ways to develop similar organizations and participate in civil society. Hopefully in a few years, Moldova can have similar organizations like the Wisconsin Humane Society, he says.

The crew also visited New York City, Wilmington, N.C., and Washington, D.C., before returning home.

McGuire, who helped choose the sites, says it was important the crew got a look at some American cities that are not as well known to the international community. Bolocan, who says he liked Milwaukee more than the hustle and bustle of New York City, agreed. “You get to see … cities some of our viewers probably have never heard existing,” he says. “There’s lots more to be seen, and this is the real America I think.” The group got their Milwaukee fill with a visit to Bastille Days, a trip on the Edelweiss and a few meals at various ethnic restaurants around town.

The program on Milwaukee, which will be the second of the four-part series, will air in Moldova six to eight weeks after their return.