By Kim Betts of Kyrenia Animal Rescue (KAR Pet Travel)…..
All owners think their pets are the best and the same is true of the KAR staff and volunteers and their “best” 400 plus cats and dogs. However one of the Centre dogs has recently attracted the movie moguls’ attention. The dog in the spotlight is called Taggy and she came into KAR rescue Centre as a puppy in 2012 – she has remained there ever since.
I had seen an appeal from a film producer (Janine Teerling) based in South Cyprus for a doggy double residing in the TRNC . Kim and Janine discussed the requirements to see if there was a suitable dog at the KAR Rescue Centre. After liaising with Elaine the Centre Supervisor it was felt that Taggy could just fit the bill. Photos of the Dutch doggy star and Taggy were exchanged and Janine and the director/writer Marios Piperides agreed that Taggy should have an audition.
Because of the ban on animals being allowed to travel from TRNC to RoC (which bears a considerable part of the plot in the film – hence the need for the doggy double to be filmed in TRNC for certain shots) the audition was scheduled to take place in the KAR Karakum Office. Janine would travel over from RoC to meet Taggy.
There were a few concerns about how Taggy would respond to being out of her home environment 
and whether she would be able to remain calm and well behaved for the audition. After all she had only ever been to the vets and out in the mountains with dog walkers and had never been far from the Centre – it was all a big new experience for her.
Taggy arrived at the office – remarkably calm and quiet but oh so interested in everything going on around her. She walked in beautifully on her lead and then laid down with a bemused look at all of the attention she was getting. Janine arrived and the audition began – everyone was keeping their fingers crossed. Most remarkable of all was that Taggy appeared to be listening to everything that was being said. Her eyes followed whoever was talking about her and she put on her most beautiful expressions for Janine.
She behaved beautifully. Janine agreed that with a bit of make up her colouring and coat texture would be fine and her 
demeanour and expressions would make her an ideal doggy double for the Dutch doggy star. Taggy was delighted and stood to attention for the promise of fame and fortune (maybe not!). Oh no …. The tape measures came out and camera angles and continuity were discussed. Poor Taggy was too tall – there was no way that she could be screened as smaller to fit the size of the Dutch Doggy star. It didn’t matter how hard they tried to come up with a solution Taggy was just too tall. Everyone was so deflated and sad that for Taggy her 15 minutes of fame were not to be.
The audition came to a close and a very sad Janine, Kim, Margaret and Taggy all said goodbye with the promise of keeping in touch in case another potential star was found before filming commences in late September.
Taggy enjoyed her outing and returned home to the centre – still a star and “simply the best” in our eyes and no doubt she will have a few “tails” to tell her pals about her time on the casting couch!
The film which is a black comedy entitled “Smuggling Hendrix” looks at various aspects of the divide between North and South Cyprus from the perspective of an ordinary man. We will send more information once filming has finished and a release date is known. The script has already won awards and there is much interest in the film in many Countries.
