THE LAST DIVING HORSE IN AMERICA

A memoir about the rescue of a sideshow animal as part of the work of a flagship animal rights group.

Branigan shares her experiences working for the Fund for Animals and its president, Cleveland Amory, one of the main architects of the modern animal protection movement. As a case study, the author focuses on the organization’s rescue of a horse named Gamal, believed to be the last diving horse used at the Atlantic City Steel Pier, and the bond that formed between them. Based on extensive research, Branigan shares the history of the diving horse attraction (“animals trained to leap, with a woman on their backs, from a forty-foot platform into a ten-foot-deep tank of water”), details regarding other horses that were parts of the show, and her traumatic experience as an audience member. The author includes the heartwarming stories of other animals that the Fund for Animals rescued during her tenure at the organization, including burros from the Grand Canyon, another diving horse named Shiloh, and a llama named Hot Britches. Unfortunately, the author’s narrative does not offer the same respect for the humans who have assisted the organization in caring for the rescued animals. When discussing the organization’s facility in Texas, Black Beauty Ranch, Branigan makes clichéd comments about the culture and accent of Texans, even though, at that point, she admittedly had not yet visited Texas or met a resident from the state. Regarding a business trip she later made to the ranch, she shares stories that focus more than necessary on the appearances of several individuals as well as innuendo regarding the actions of others. Though these details may be intended as local color to set the scene, their abundance detracts from Branigan’s message about her organization, which clearly does important work.

The history of an admirable organization that falls short in its delivery.