The Dog Lover (2016)

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.

Sometimes a movie will trick you and make you think it is about something, when it is really about something else. This is clearly a movie to make you think animal welfare people are extreme-but it is pretending to be a movie. It is 90 minutes of that. They try to craft a plot line, but it fails because all that screams out is an agenda. What a disappointment. Frankly, the topic just does not lend itself to a movie. I can't get those 90 minutes back. It was kind of surprising to see a series of B actors in it--but I guess actors are doing commercials now so maybe I should not be so surprised. If there was an agenda and they had made it clear up front, I would not have felt cheated.

"The Dog Lover" brings us into the true world of America's animal rights movement, their organizations, and their ultimate deceptions. There are sub-standard, unregulated, puppy mills which we all agree should be shut down. However, rather than targeting these dreadful operations, American's animal rights organizations choose to fabricate false charges on highly visible and regulated professional breeders. The Dog Lover also gives viewers a front row seat inside many of the challenges animal husbandry faces on a daily basis. Producers Forrest Lucas and Ali Afshar certainly dedicated a great amount of time to obtain the depth of knowledge necessary to recreate such an accurate depiction of this true story. This movie is a must see for all. Encourage your family, friends, civic organizations, and lawmakers to see the insightful movie… The Dog Lover!

Yes, this film does seem like just another lifetime/moral-imperative b-film for the first half... Was watching with my wife and friends, and halfway through, that was exactly what i thought.Fortunately, I am married. Due to my love for her and my passion for the truth (as she had argued that it was worth a watch... and i disagreed halfway through...nearly questioning more than the movie), I began to feel a huge knot in my stomach.I began to feel a knot in my stomach that I hadn't felt in a while... Finally. Finally. A great gut-wrenching drama.Regardless of the truth involved, this movie forces me to question myself and our American culture...They say Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... and the movie poster/theme picture has really really big claims on it that sound so moral imperative Christian i would not have watched this all...i am glad i did.Johnny 5 said it best.... More input.HIts the mark. Comes through with what is promised on the poster picture.One of the first movies i have seen this year that i am glad i stuck through... because it now makes me question what made me question this movie to begin with..