FREE PUPPIES!: “There Is Always One More”

When it comes to shelter animals, we have all heard the slogan “Adopt, Don’t Shop”. It has become synonymous with animal rescue, the encouragement to provide forever homes to animals in need growing into a booming industry of transportation, relocation, and expanding resources. Yet, as much as success abounds, challenges still linger, especially in the far south of the United States. Free Puppies!, from directors Samantha Wishman and Christina Thomas, brings viewers face to face with these challenges, proving that at the heart of the issues remain resources and information.

An easy documentary to watch, coming in at a brisk 68 minutes, Free Puppies! packs a punch, conveying empathy and understanding in each frame it captures, while delivering a solid platform to inform and inspire. And while its locale mostly is restricted to Dade County in Georgia, Free Puppies!’s message extends beyond county limits, capturing the issues at hand as a whole, giving a grander picture than just one location. By the film’s end, viewers will understand the true challenges of resources, politics, and information that are an everyday struggle for those who have embraced a life of rescue.

“Adopt, Don’t Shop”

Free Puppies! opens with little Albert running across a sandy beach. The documentary instantly captures the joy of Albert and his owners, further capturing this in the images of owners arriving to pick up their newest family members. As the film progresses in its introduction, the Biden family is showcased, the first sitting president to have rescue dogs in the White House. As it continues to move on to explain the “Adopt, Don’t Shop” movement, there is a deeply engrained grassroots feel encompassed by both visuals and score that root viewers into the film’s primary location and messaging. This feeling will remain with the documentary throughout its entirety, running parallel to the film’s pace and vibrancy.

As Free Puppies! explains, the devastating impacts from Katrina in 2005 kicked off what would become a nationwide relocation, inspired by those willing to help save the animals. And while the idea of animal rescue goes further back than Katrina, the documentary uses this as a grounding point to transition effectively to Monda Wooten – one of the Dade County rescuers the film will primarily focus on. Through the work of Monda and fellow rescuer Ruth Smith, Free Puppies! begins to peel back the layers of animal rescue in the south, presenting not only the challenges they face but the difficult decisions they are forced to reckon with.

From lack of animal control to lack of city funding, from misinformation surrounding spay and neuter to neglect, Monda, Ruth, and the various talking heads throughout Free Puppies! each deliver their roles and objectives within the rescue community, giving everything they have to save animal life and reduce the overpopulation. While some have given their time transporting for adoption and spaying and neutering, others have given their building spaces to aid in adoptions and rescues. There is a deeply rooted community of rescuers that not only work to support one another but to relentlessly support the general public. Free Puppies! fully encompasses this sense of community, the idea of hope and perseverance shining bright even in the documentary’s heavier moments.

Conclusion:

Free Puppies! gives a platform to those who need it most, both supporting its subjects and educating its audience. Free Puppies! asks for the viewer’s empathy, pleading for not only understanding but future action in any way possible. As Monda states, “there is always one more”. And as this documentary proves, there will always be those willing to take on the fight another day. A grassroots documentary, Free Puppies! is an exemplary showcase of hope and perseverance, delivering a platform to those most in need.

Free Puppies is available on VOD and DVD in the US and Canada on December 13, 2022!

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