The Dog Lover

When I first heard about this film, I thought it might be a feel good story related to animal welfare. It claims to be based on a true story and I thought it might add to my education as an animal welfare advocate. It did not. I consider myself fairly well versed in subjects related to animal welfare and regarding puppy mills, thanks to my Paws4Change work and my contacts across the country whom I consider subject matter experts. I told myself I would be neutral about the movie in spite of having heard some pretty terrible things about it. In the end, I just found it to be a waste of time and money. I am sure that most animal lovers who see this film without the benefit of understanding the agenda may very well be confused. The film was produced by Protect the Harvest. The name alone should tell you a lot. In this movie, the big bad national animal welfare organization loses, the dog breeder loses, the dog lover loses and worst yet, the dogs lose. This topic is far too complex to be crammed into 90 minutes of fiction and be of any value at all to our dog loving society. What a terrible disappointment.

Bad writing, bad acting, a little sexism thrown in all to discredit the Human Society of the United States. Who would go to the trouble to produce crap like this. Protect the Harvest, a NRA like conservative pro hunting entity that has money to burn. If you own a red hat that says "Make America Great Again" this movie is for you.

If The Dog Lover is trying to hide its agenda it's not doing too good a job of it. It's a slightly creepy film to watch because it does nothing short of attack government funded protection agencies for going after dog breeders in general. Are all dog breeders evil? Is every group that disagrees with your views 100% evil? Not likely but who really knows for sure outside of their own experience. Are protection agencies spotless in their record of protecting animals? I don't know that either.

There are a lot of *suspicious* facts surrounding this movie, from the funding by a very well known opponent to Animal Cruelty bills to the fact that the ASPCA monitored "some" of the animal action in this film (haven't seen that one before and it gives me pause).

It is interesting how viciously this film has been attacked in the mainstream media with very little convincing non-hysterical justification beyond its controversial message. The acting is on the whole very good and the script does a damn good job at presenting a plausible scenario for mismanagement by government funded agencies.

If you go into this film with a closed mind it's only going to enrage you. It actually made me consider the other side of this issue. Did it convince me that all animal breeding is bad? No. Did it turn me against the ASPCA? Definitely not.

I do believe that all zealotry --- for any side --- is unwise and this movie did confirm that belief. I'd want to know more about both sides of this argument before I'd support either one, but as a piece of compelling storytelling, it works. It held my interest and made me want to know more.

Keep in mind when you read any hyper emotional review of this film that what you're being asked to do is simply think for yourself. I can think of worse ways to spend your time and money. Yes, you're probably giving money to the breeders if you rent or buy this film, but I'd be shocked if this film paid for itself, frankly. And the protection agencies have more than enough support to wage a counter attack. I'd love to hear their side of the issue as well. I'm waiting.

If you're a dog lover, I highly recommend this film. Very moving with a great pay-off at the end. Really exposes the truth about some organizations. This would be a good family movie, it's educational and also interesting. It brings about the debate on puppy mills and will give you insight on what some are really about. The good people out there follow the law and get punished for it, while those who mistreat and abuse animals go unnoticed. It's an unfair system that needs recognition and this movie brought awareness to it. It makes you question people's motives and what cause they're really fighting for. I would definitely watch this film again

Decent film, addresses dog breeding in a fairly accurate way. Shame it does not attempt to take on other forms of animal cruelty. It definitely will have you thinking.