 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
   |
 |
|
In Your
Face Chris DeRose is a Superhero. This guy should be wearing a cape. Born in Brooklyn, DeRose was a scrawny kid who grew up completely impoverished in a tough Jersey mafia neighborhood. In and out of orphanages when his mother couldn’t care for him, he never knew who his father was. He sure could have used one to protect him during the frequent beatings he took from the local bullies and wiseguys. Once he was beaten so badly, he literally had to crawl home. Then a friend enrolled him in a karate class. He not only learned karate, he excelled. When a school bully tried to smack him around one day, DeRose clobbered him with moves Bruce Lee would have respected. A fight or two later, DeRose got a reputation as someone not to fool with. From years of victimization, DeRose had developed a keen sense of justice and a natural instinct to protect those weaker than himself. Like something out of a Charles Bronson movie, at the age of 16 DeRose found himself deliberately heading into the worst parts of New York City weekend nights, just to wander and see if anyone needed help. On several occasions he came upon robbers or rapists mid-crime, and beat the crap out of them. On a few occasions, he bit off more than he could chew, and the bad guys sent him to the hospital. After stints as a process server, an investigator, and a cop, DeRose wandered west to Hollywood with a friend who wanted to be a star. The friend didn’t get anywhere, but DeRose started getting offers handed to him. Before long he was working on shows like Baretta, Kojak, Rockford Files, TV movies...and then one day ABC gave him a starring role in a new series, "San Pedro Beach Bums." The show ran a season before being canceled, and made DeRose a star. Hollywood was talking about him as the next Stallone. Then something happened. A dog walked into an acting class, and DeRose took it out to try to find its owner. He later dropped it at the pound, but then came back when he realized it was set to be destroyed. Little by little, DeRose began to consider the plight of animals. DeRose learned of a huge underground trade in family pets, and how they find their way into animal research. Always the guy to take matters into his hands and take action, DeRose found himself investigating some suspicious occurrences. He found himself investigating a highly organized pet-theft ring in Southern California, where people’s pets were being stolen and sold to medical labs like Cedars-Sinai and UCLA. DeRose did stakeouts, was involved in car chases, was run down and shot at -- just like something out of the Kojak shows he used to do...and finally he got the DA and SPCA involved. When they saw the evidence DeRose had gathered, they brought the pet-thieves up on felony charges. And many people were grateful to DeRose when he made it possible for them to get their pets back from the labs before it was too late. Sadly, not all the pet owners were able to get their animals back alive. Evidence against the pet thieves revealed they’d been making as much as $18,000 a month off of stolen pets. The judge pronounced the thieves as some of the "lowest forms of human life," and sentenced them to five years in prison. This is just one of many fascinating cases that DeRose has undertaken to expose and help prosecute the highly organized criminals who are out to steal Spot and Fluffy from our kids. In his book, DeRose exposes a huge problem, tacitly encouraged by the animal research field who prefer and pay more for tame animals. Animals who have been raised with families are more trusting and, therefore, much easier to handle and experiment on. Many in the vivisection field acknowledge, off the record, that attracting criminals to supply lab animals is a problem inherent to the system. DeRose tells what you can do to help protect your own pets, and discusses many fascinating and chilling incidents. "In Your Face" presents some of the most cogent, well considered arguments against vivisectionism. DeRose presents strong evidence of the medical uselessness of animal research, and shows it to be little more than a way for hospitals and universities to significantly increase revenue streams, while contributing nothing of scientific value. DeRose also talks about his jail time he's done himself, for "trespassing" charges racked up his many successful attempts to expose the underbelly of vivisectionism. During the 1980's, DeRose, then a star on "General Hospital," got fired when he had to go to jail. (In an ironic twist of art imitating life, they wrote his character, Dino, out of the show by sending Dino to jail.) While in jail, DeRose’s cell neighbors included Eric Menendez, and the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez (who confided he had tortured animals as a child.) DeRose has written a book much like himself -- appealing, dynamic, humorous, thought-provoking -- and it's filled with exciting experiences. After reading his book, you'll understand why he made the decision to give up the mantel of TV Star in favor of Pet Protector. For more information about Chris Derose, visit the Last Chance for Animals website. |