Fern Levitt

Fern Levitt is a Canadian-born animal activist, documentary producer and director. Her films focus on human rights, the Holocaust, discrimination against African-Americans in the US, animal welfare, and socially relevant issues. She is best known for her 2016 documentary Sled Dogs, which aired on the CBC Documentary channel. It explores the Iditarod, raising allegations of animal cruelty among breeders, trainers and kennelers of the event's sled dogs.

Documentaries
About her work, Levitt said "You don't do it for the money. I love telling these stories because if these people, Gorbachev, Havel and others, can take a stand under such impossible circumstances, then I have a responsibility to do it, too." Admitting to being a fan of Gorbachev, "I think he is the greatest leader this world has ever had,” she said. “To come from that (repressive) environment and do what he did was amazing. I was completely caught up in Gorba-mania.” Levitt has also filmed and interviewed former US president's Bill Clinton and George Bush, former Czech leader, Vaclav Havel, and former president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze.

Motivation To Create "Sled Dogs" Documentary
Levitt and her producer husband, Arnie Zipursky, were interviewed about the life of these dogs, specifically the quality of their surroundings, their treatment, and their reactions to witnessing their behaviour in captivity. They went dogsledding in 2010 outside Huntsville, close to Algonquin Park and shared their observations. Levitt described the layout  they encountered upon arriving, explaining that the dogsleds are "set up" with dogs waiting for them. However, "you don't see where the dogs live." So they both decided to return later to see where the dogs lived and were shocked at the scene in front of them: over 200 dogs in a field, covered in mud, running frantically in circles because they were chained to posts. "There was urine and excrement everywhere, and they looked so thin," Levitt recalled. After learning all this, Levitt recalls feeling horrified about their recent participation. At that moment, Levitt recalls, standing amidst the chaos and suffering, Levitt and Zipursky felt they needed to make up for their recent participation in dog sledding. Zipursky recalls his conversation with a caretaker on-site, finding out that the dogs were used for 9 to 10 years and then shot. They immediately put a 9-year-old husky, destined for the same fate, in their car to take home. However, the idea for the documentary wasn't thought of until witnessing the same conditions, later in Whistler.

In Whistler, BC, Levitt witnessed the same pattern of conditions and was told by the local caretaker that, "this is an anomaly, and never happens, I knew differently at that point," shares Levitt. The idea to create "Sled Dogs" was born. CTV's Molly Thomas confirmed these findings with a hidden camera on W5.

During The Filming
During her work on "Sled Dogs" (216), Levitt researched the subject of animal treatment in the industry. As Levitt's research progressed, she uncovered numerous cases of animal abuse, which led her to produce a film to raise awareness and shut down the industry. The film highlights the lives of dogs trained from a young age and then often confined to short chains for pulling tourists or racing. The film also exposes the unfortunate cases of dogs that are killed when they are no longer useful, such as the 100 animals that a recreational sledding company near Whistler, British Columbia, shot.

In an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), she stated, "I was absolutely shocked. To me it looked like a concentration camp of dogs," and "Most Canadians have no idea what goes on in the sled dog operations."

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) gave Levitt's Documentary to a representative of US banking institution, Wells Fargo. A Globe and Mail article reported that this major corporate sponsor was "disturbed by its content" with withdrew their sponsorship of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Release in Vancouver
The Vancouver Humane Society created a press release about Sled Dogs (2016) to let people know that the release of the documentary's premiere will be screened as part of Whistler’s Documentary Strand program, and that the location was picked because of its proximity to where 100 sled dogs were "brutally murdered, sparking outrage throughout North America." The timing of the screening was noted by Levitt to be a "critical moment when the public is waking up to the treatment of animals and demanding change. The audience will be outraged when they discover the legal abuse of ‘man’s best friend’ under the guise of sport and entertainment."

Levitt called The documentary a "definitive call to action." According to Producer Arnie Zipursky, documentaries hold immense power in the modern world as they offer a platform to educate viewers on various issues. In the case of Sled Dogs, the documentary not only sheds light on hidden truths but also inspires the audience to drive positive change through increased awareness

According to Bruce Cowley, the senior director of Documentary Channel, "Sled Dogs" offers an unfiltered and honest view of an industry that needs to improve. After watching the film, viewers will have a different perspective on dog-sledding and dogs in general.

"Sled Dogs" explores the lesser-known aspects of the sled dog industry, shedding light on the living conditions of these animals during the off-season. Rather than focusing on the commonly promoted image of sled dogs as tourism and sports icons, the film presents a sincere and moving account, encouraging viewers to delve deeper into the topic and reconsider their perceptions of the industry.

The documentary film "Sled Dogs" features four interconnected stories that take place across various locations in North America, including Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario.

The Impact of "Sled Dogs" Leading To Investigations
In a segment titled "Dogs In Distress”, CTV's W5, North America's longest-running current affairs show, employed a hidden camera during its investigation into the mistreatment of dogs reported by Levitt. The episode shared the account of an activist who travelled across Canada, and found roughly 2,000 dogs, all on chains, frantically running in circles. During the program, Levitt described receiving troubling news in 2020 from an ex-employee, reporting the use of a homemade gas chamber  used in the killing of dogs at Expedition Mi-Loup, a dog sledding outfit  in Quebec. Levitt stated, "I had to find out if this was true, that they had built a gas chamber, and were gassing puppies." Levitt described receiving word that the former employee had written to the SPCA in Quebec and to the Ministry of Agriculture about the allegations, but "they didn't do anything," said Levitt.

According to W5, Levitt, after both the SPCA and the Ministry neither confirmed or denied any wrongdoing at Expedition Mi-Loup, decided to investigate the story herself. She had her contact draw up a map to the camp in Quebec and arrived at midnight in the dark accompanied by a few friends. What she found shocked her. Levitt describes a closed plastic box, with a gas line leading to a canister of welding gas. She opened the box and was horrified. Corpses of dogs murdered by gas were  found in the plastic storage container. In the next room was a deep freezer full of puppies and  2 adult dogs. Levitt described the puppies as if they were "sleeping, except they had been frozen to death."

In the aftermath of these revelations, Quebec authorities arrested three individuals involved in the gassings of dogs at Expedition Mi-Loup.

"Quebec provincial police say three people are facing animal cruelty charges in Quebec City in connection with the discovery of dogs and puppies gassed, frozen to death in freezers and hanging at a sled dog company. The Sûreté du Québec says Antoine Simard, 41, Elisabeth Leclerc, 39, and 58-year-old Édouard Parent were charged with animal cruelty and neglect at the Quebec City courthouse on Thursday after being arrested the day prior."

List of Documentaries

 * Contact (1979) about controversial therapy being used on autistic children (In-Motion Productions)
 * Michael, a Gay Son (1980) about a son's difficulty in coming out to his parents (Bruce Lawson Production)
 * Each of Us Has a Name (1999) follows the journey of Canadian Jewish teenagers and Holocaust survivors on the March of the Living as they visit former Nazi German death camps in Poland, as well as other historic sites in the country. (Global Television Network)
 * Captain of Souls (1999) tells the story of Rev. William Andrew White, minister at the Second Baptist Church of New Glasgow, N.S. and radio broadcaster; he was the son of former slaves. He served as pastor to the all-black 2nd Construction Battalion of Nova Scotia during the First World War. (History Channel)
 * The Little Rock Nine (2001) the story of a group of African American high-school students in the 1950s who challenged racial segregation in the public schools of Little Rock, Arkansas. Levitt said she "couldn’t believe the images of the Little Rock Nine she saw on the Public Broadcasting Service of mobs and the abuse the courageous students endured, all to stand up for their right to an education. I couldn’t believe this was America, a country known for democracy; those images really stayed in my mind and defined me." (History Channel)
 * Come out Fighting: The 761st (2002) Winner of The Chris Statuette at the Columbus Film Festival. (History Channel's Turning Points of History)
 * Sakharov - Conscience of a Country (2003) (History Channel's Turning Points of History)
 * Gorbachev's Revolution (2004) to mark the 20th anniversary of Perestroika, the documentary includes interviews with former President Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush Sr. and Eduard Shevardnadze. The soundtrack includes The Habonim Youth Choir rendition of the Israeli peace song Lay Down Your Arms (History Channel's Turning Points of History)
 * The Velvet Revolution (2005) (History Channel's Turning Points of History)
 * My Opposition: The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner (2006) describes one man's opposition to Nazi Germany. The documentary was chosen as the Tikkun Olam screening for the Calgary Jewish Film Festival in 2007, and it was also screened at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival in 2008. As a result of the relevance of the story line, which depicts the historical diary as a weapon against intolerance, the documentary was chosen to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht in a screening at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
 * Living Through Dying (2008) follows three people in their mid-thirties who are facing a terminal illness.  (Discovery Channel)
 * 7 Days of Remembrance and Hope (2009) follows the journey of 60 Canadian university students on the March of Remembrance and Hope, as they visit the former Nazi German death camps in occupied Poland as well as other historic sites in the country. (CBC)
 * Paws for Autism (2012) follows two autistic children and their service dogs (Animal Planet)
 * Sled Dogs (2016) explores the Iditarod and raises allegations of animal cruelty among the event's breeders, trainers and kennelers.

Other
Levitt is a trained social worker. She moved into making television in 1990, her first job was as a researcher for TVOntario. She was an instructor at the Toronto Film School.

Notable Mentions
In 2001, about Levitt's documentary "Little Rock Nine", prior to it being aired on Turning Points of History, John Doyle (The Globe and Mail) wrote "Not many Canadian documentary filmmakers get an interview with Bill Clinton but Fern Levitt got him and he's got a lot to say in The Little Rock Nine, a good documentary about the bitter desegregation of an Arkansas school in 1957. That's when nine students attempted to attend an all-white school in Little Rock, a right they were guaranteed by the courts. The Governor of Arkansas sent the National Guard to stop them and President Eisenhower sent the army to protect them. Footage from those days is still shocking, revealing as it does a level of racism, bigotry and hatred that is unfathomable."

In 2017, Helen T. Verongos (New York Times) wrote, "It’s easy to fall in love with the animals in “Sled Dogs.” It’s thornier to sift through the words of the handlers and mushers — many of whom seem to genuinely care for the dogs — and determine how pervasive abuse is in dog-sledding ventures."

Controversy Over Song Choice for "Gorbachev's Revolution"
Barbara Kay, a political columnist from The National Post wrote an article about a feature song chosen by Levitt for the soundtrack of "Gorbachev's Revolution" (released in 2004). Kay explains that during the editing for the documentary, Levitt put together a sequence showing the Berlin Wall coming down, and wanted to hear children singing a "sweet peace song" during this historical moment. Levitt had contacted a choir director for Toronto's well-known Claude Watson School of the Performing Arts, who tentatively agreed for the choir sing in the film. and the two discussed songs, one of them was "Lay Down Your Arms" (LDYA) by Israeli composer Doron Levinson.

The song "Lay Down Your Arms" was composed by Doron Levinson as a tribute to fallen soldiers during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The lyrics are inspired by a peaceful vision described by the prophet Isaiah, where weapons are transformed into tools for agriculture. Levitt settled on this song for the Berlin Wall scene, and informed the choir director, and soon received a message saying the choir would not perform LDYA stating it was because it was "written by an Israeli soldier."

Levitt met with the choir director, the school principal, representatives from the teachers' union, and the Canadian Jewish Congress. The Toronto District School Board's non-discrimination policy was recited and the school principal agreed that the composer's country of origin should not have been grounds for a refusal. The article states that the choir director's claim for refusing the song was that it was "not a high quality song." Levitt filed a complaint against the choir director with the Toronto District School Board. After an investigation, the Board cleared her of any wrongdoing, stating that there was no evidence to support Levitt's claim. However, the Board did not inoclude Khaskin's corroborating testimony in its investigation.

The song was still used in Levitt's documentary. LDYA was performed by The Habonim Youth Choir from Congregation Habonim Toronto.