William Berloni – The Humane Society of New York

Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks & Steve Martin

Raised on a farm in a small Connecticut town, William Berloni often found himself isolated from conventional grade school groups. Bill preferred to stay home with his posse of non-human companions, his collie, pet cat and rabbit. Years of curating deep relationships with a diverse cross section of farm animals and pets inculcated a profound understanding of animal behavior. Bill used his knowledge of animal behavior to transform rescued animals into Hollywood and Broadway stars. To date, Bill has trained animals for 27 Broadway shows and worked beside A-list celebrities like Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Steve Martin. His work in animal training has received countless awards including a Tony Award Honor in 2011. In addition to his work in entertainment, Bill has been an instrumental asset to the Humane Society of New York, (NYHS), where he currently serves as the director of animal behavior and has helped adopt dogs through their performances in Annie.

Annie: The Musical

When he was 19 years old working as a technical apprentice at the Goodspeed Opera house in East Haddam Connecticut, Bill’s boss, Michael Price, asked him if he could find a dog for the production of Annie the musical. Frantic, Bill canvassed the local animal shelters looking for a dog to fill the role. “I never saw animals being treated like that.” Said Bill, “As I went town to town, I felt more depressed that we treated dogs like this. I walked down the aisles and the dogs screaming and barking, splashed with urine, they were aggressive. I thought I was in hell.” As he continued down the aisles of what he called “hell”, he was greeted by a friendly, long coated collie who excitedly licked his hand through the bars of his cage. An attendant came by and informed him that the dog was to be put down first thing in the morning. Appalled, Bill agreed to purchase the dog for $7.

Camelot with Richard Burton

The next day, Sandy and Bill started their training for Annie. Bill was inexperienced in training animals for stage, but he devised a strategy. “I thought to myself, maybe if I can get the dog to like the little girl who played Annie and think the stage is his home, he might do what we want.” Said Bill, “It was the basis of the positive reinforcement of training. Sandy had been abused; he loved the actress who played Annie. Our rehearsal would be let’s play together and give him cookies.”
After being accepted at NYU, he was contacted by the producers of Annie on Broadway, who needed someone to train the dogs in the musical. At twenty years old he had become a nationally renowned dog trainer sought after by top producers and directors. “At 24 I realized I was more talented as an animal trainer than an actor.” Said Bill “My third show was revival of Camelot with Richard Burton. I volunteered at animal shelters in NY to raise awareness. Humane Society of NY is where I worked. It was my thing whenever I had a celebrity dog to help raise awareness.”

The New York Humane Society

Bill spent his career between animal training and volunteering at the New York Humane Society. He was drawn to the NYHS because of their deep devotion to their animals and their no-kill policy. The Humane society was founded by animal rights activist and ASPCA founder Henry Bergh in 1904, inspired by his love for animals. Members fought for laws to punish negligent owners and place watering troughs in streets and parks. As funds allowed, the Society expanded to include a free medical clinic and a small adoption center for cats and dogs. Today, the society’s hospital and Vladimir Horowitz and Wanda Toscanini Horowitz Adoption Center help more than 38,000 dogs and cats annually, and their numbers continue to grow. These accomplishments have been achieved under the stewardship of Virginia Chipurnoi who is the President of NYHS and Sandra

DeFeo the organizations Executive Director.

After volunteering for some time, he was appointed Director of Animal Behavior. “At first it was volunteering,” said Bill, “then it kept going and going. I said to one of the directors, I’m sorry I have to work 2 jobs to pay for my mortgage and she said we’ll put you on salary and be the Director of Animal Behavior.”
At the 20th anniversary of Annie on Broadway, Bill had an idea to help adopt more dogs from the NYHS. There was a minor role available for a dog to accompany the dog catcher briefly on stage. Bill’s idea was to train a different dog from the NYHS for each production and offer it up for adoption. “I told the Humane Society that each week if you could bring over a dog to the theater and put it on stage in the dog catcher role, you can accept applications to get the dog adopted,” said Bill. “We got every dog adopted.” humanesociety.org