Dog By Dog World Premiere
During the summer of 2014 I came across a film being made in the US. Karen Doonan, co-producer of Dog By Dog reached out to me and began what has become a fruitful and wonderful relationship using social media as we mutually recognised how close our aims are, and how this film will resonate around the world. There was something about it that hooked me from the off and I’ve followed the development and completion of this stylish, powerful documentary with an increasing depth of interest and excitement. As I’ve connected with the film making team, through Karen, over the past few months and we’ve got to know that our respective passions for bringing about change for the dogs is shared, I’ve come to appreciate more fully the true likelihood that this film is going to be a “big thing” for the dogs.This is a film, that I believe will accelerate the ending of mass, commercial puppy breeding, not only in the US, but elsewhere, including the UK.
I’ve written about Dog By Dog on several occasions, here on this blog, my article for One Green Planet apparently ‘went viral’ and The Dodo published my piece in February this year. Each article receives volumes of interest because this is a topic that people properly, passionately care about and they wish others to understand and see what they do. I know that by the interest my pieces have generated, that I am not alone in seeing the potential for this film. This is where social media can be great, sharing articles helps to spread our compassion a little further. It makes it harder for the bad puppy breeders to lurk in the shadows as they have happily done for years, keeping their dirty business shielded from scrutiny by caring, decent or just inquisitive members of the public.
But, social media alone is not enough, this is why film is such a powerful medium and why I am committed to helping get this documentary all the exposure it deserves, and the dogs need. Film, and this one in particular, can get across to high numbers of people that puppy breeding today is done in a dismally shocking and abusive commercial environment, with corporate and political support. This last point is what this film exposes so well and which has yet to be properly explored in any medium. Although this is a US focused film, the same pernicious networks of influence and support are in place in every country that allows mass, commercial, abusive breeding of dogs. Where the US has the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the UK has DEFRA. While details differ, the driving forces in the puppy breeding industry, globally, are the same: easy money is made off the backs of suffering, trapped, abused dogs. Literally.
When people understand that it is nothing to do with any love of dogs, but completely a love for the money that can readily be made from them, things will change. The casual abuses, easy flouting of already lax welfare regulations, the ignorance and complicity from all quarters which permits this calamity for millions of dogs around the world, all this will be challenged by Dog By Dog. I anticipate that as the film is aired around the world – which I have no doubt it will be and I’m helping to bring this about – the public will have their hearts and minds awakened to what is being done to dogs in the name of business.
By having such a powerful, engaging film (and trust me, it’s brilliant in its presentation and message) in the public arena, all campaigners and activists can use it as a tool to wave in the faces of legislators and those who hold positions of power to change the industry. But more than this, it can be viewed by ordinary members of the public, the ones who buy the puppies. This is a highly watchable documentary, there are no distressing images of breeding dogs stuck in wire cages, or in the pitch dark of agricultural sheds, but almost because of this, the film hits home hard. The elegance of its presentation is powerful. The political impact of good documentaries can be seen throughout history in many spheres. Dog By Dog will take its place alongside other major animal welfare films which bring substantial change, such as Blackfish, I have no doubt.
The world premiere is on May 13th in New York City, details here followed by Philadelphia. More screenings are shortly to be announced.
