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Each year, approximately 5 million dogs are brought to animal shelters in the U.S.; the majority - nearly 4 million in all - will never be adopted. Some of these unwanted dogs will spend the rest of their lives in cages; others will be euthanized.
Cynthia Wade's documentary SHELTER DOGS is a compelling look at how one unique shelter responds to a seemingly endless stream of homeless animals. Filmed over the course of two years, SHELTER DOGS follows Sue Sternberg, founder of Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption in Accord, New York, as Sternberg and her staff navigate a world in which there are no simple solutions -- and where decisions are often life-and-death.
Some of the dogs are immediately placed in wonderful, permanent homes. But there are also troubling moral dilemmas surrounding some of the "gray area" dogs. If a dog bites, is it ethical to adopt him out to the general public? If a dog guards his food, can he be trusted in a family with children? And what about the dogs that never find homes -- is it more humane for them to spend their lives in a shelter or to euthanize them? This provocative documentary provides a fresh look at these kinds of issues and the complex, morally ambiguous world of animal sheltering.
SHELTER DOGS is a Red Hen production; director and producer, Cynthia Wade; producer, Heidi Reinberg; editor, Geof Bartz; camera, Cynthia Wade; original music, Mark Suozzo. For HBO: supervising producers, Julie Anderson, Lisa Heller; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
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