Cesar Millan, the widely admired dog guru and television star, speaks often about states of mind.
So naturally, when it comes to notoriously high animal and euthanasia numbers in San Antonio, the so-called Dog Whisperer believes the solution lies within.
“World transformation begins with self-transformation, so one person can make a difference,” Millan said recently by phone.
He added, “It's just awareness and working together. ... We all join in to the benefit of a cause. Well, the cause here is to control the animal population.”
City officials are scheduled to announce today that Millan is slated to speak and answer questions at the Lila Cockrell Theatre on July 11.
His appearance is billed as the highlight of “Dog Awareness Week,” a public awareness initiative that coincides with five days of dog shows at the convention center beginning July 8.
The River City Cluster of Dog Shows partnered with the city this year to reinforce a message of responsible pet ownership — a state of mind that officials say is essential in stopping the killing of healthy, adoptable animals by 2012.
More than 5,600 dogs and cats have been euthanized here this year. In a mostly Hispanic city with more than 700,000 animals and a lackluster sterilization rate, officials are hoping Millan, a Mexican immigrant, will prove an inspiring presence.
This week, he filmed a bilingual public service announcement for San Antonio that officials plan to air soon.
“We're hoping that the community will really listen to him,” said Shirley Wills, spokeswoman for the dog shows.
Millan was raised alongside pigs, cows and chickens on a farm in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
By the time he was 13, locals had nicknamed him “El Perrero,” or “The Dogman,” because canines seemed to follow him everywhere.
At 21, Millan rode a bus to Tijuana with $100 in his pocket and paid someone to lead him across the border. Living in South-Central Los Angeles, he read dog psychology books and garnered a reputation for controlling packs of dogs.
“It's funny, because South-Central Los Angeles is the 'hood, right? And people said, nobody's going to come here,” he said. “Sooner or later, limos (started) arriving with dogs from Beverly Hills.”
Millan's “Dog Whisperer” became the highest rated show on the National Geographic Channel in its first season, and the show now is in its fifth year.
Married with two sons, Millan owns 10 dogs, including two pit bulls named “Daddy” and “Junior.” He scorns the idea of banning pit bulls.
“When you ban a breed, you are saying I am afraid and I don't know how to deal with it, and the only way is to block its existence,” he said. “I don't think America wants to embrace that kind of concept. Awareness is the solution.”
Inspired by Eastern philosophies, Millan counts anxiety as a major stumbling block for many pet owners.
“A lot of my clients, they live in the past,” he said. “Let's say a dog bit somebody yesterday. Well, that experience travels with them every single day. A dog, when he meets me, what he senses is a human who's not in the past, who's in the now.”
He added, “So the human has to learn to remove the past and not anticipate the future.”
Millan said the spread of such insight actually could help San Antonio reach its goal of becoming no-kill by 2012.
“I'm very optimistic that the awareness will eventually catch up. Because, you know, one thing, before the show aired, everybody blamed the dog,” he said. “Now, more and more people say, ‘I know it's not the dog, it's me.' So I'm changing the state of mind, little by little.”
