A few years ago, when New York City-based filmmaker Samantha Wishman went to pick up a dog, she helped adoptive parents overcome Friends of Rhode Island Homeless Animals, she thought she was going to meet a little mixed poodle named Stuart. But when the volunteers unloaded about 80 dogs – including Stuart – from a truck that brought them to the Northeast from Mississippi, she became curious.
“The driver said she does the trip every weekend and there are lots of other rides going on,” Wishman told The Dog People. “That’s how the seed is planted or me.”
That seed has grown into First run feature documentary Free Puppies! which Wishman directed and produced with Los Angeles-based filmmaker Christina Thomas, who also served as director and co-producer. The film premiered on August 12, 2022, and is currently showing around the country at special premieres and rescue events.
Meet the “Three State Rescue Women”
The film offers an eye-opening look at the work of three women in the Tri-State area of Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama who are working to save the lives of dogs and cats in the rural South. .
Three women — known as “Three State Rescue Women”: Monda Wooten, who makes room for her dogs floor shop in Trenton, Georgia; Ruth Smith, in total Rescue the army treasure dog in Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Ann Brown of Tri-State Humane Society in Trenton, Georgia — regularly receive calls about abandoned or abused animals. We see the trio visit remote, impoverished areas to appeal to people to get them married to a mother for the health and veterinary care of her and her puppies — sometimes possibly. personal risk to themselves.
The Tri-State Rescue team cautiously announced — with an implied wink at the camera — that they never Cut the leash to let the dog loose or drive away unwanted litters of puppies without asking.
Wishman said the rescuers’ determination and commitment to saving the lives of animals made an impression on her.
“The bravery of the women throughout the years has clearly inspired us,” the filmmaker said. “They are very strong, relentless and trying to do what they can.”
Lifeguards Ruth Smith (with the puppy) and Monda Wooten walk a pack of puppies from a home in Rossville, GA, as seen in Free Puppies!, a film by Samantha Wishman and Christina Thomas. Features courtesy for the first run
The hidden cost of “free” puppies
The reasons why livestock overpopulation is so severe in Southern states are challenging and complex – they range from poverty and lack of access to veterinary care to warm winters. than does not kill peanuts and allows more reproduction. Additionally, animal protection laws are among the poorest in the nation, and some of the laws on the books are harder to enforce with a lot of room to roam in rural areas. There is a constant need to educate more people about spay/neuter.
One dog, one day, at a time
Depending on the situation, the women return some dogs after their veterinary care, while others receive a “golden ticket” to be transported north where there is more need. about adoptable pets. Viewers learn about the impact spay/neuter can have on reducing the livestock overpopulation in the South — something Wooten feels is key to ending the crisis.
“I don’t care how big a shelter you build – you can fill it. There’s always more to what you can do,” she told The Dog People.
More than 25 years ago, when Wooten started rescuing dogs, she would have saved a litter of eight puppies and was pleased to have found a new home for them. But she soon realized, without her mother’s objection, that she was “one step forward and ten steps back”.
“Because mothers can multiply so much faster than you can save them,” she explains.
When women can’t bring home their local puppies and dogs — like the happy story of a rescued Bloodhound named Houston, who finds a home with a cop and twins. his 10-year-old birth — the canines can be transported north by a grassroots network of volunteers and nonprofit rescue organizations like Quick rescue. In one hilarious scene, volunteers in Wisconsin organize a “spa day” to help get the newly shipped dogs clean and cute to give them a chance for adoption.
“I think transportation is important because the more animals we get out of here, it’s almost like saving them,” said Wooten.
A rescued Bloodhound named Houston has found her permanent home in Trenton, Georgia, as seen in Free Puppies!, a film by Samantha Wishman and Christina Thomas. Features for Courtesy First Runs
Transporting dogs Saves lives
However Transportation has saved countless lives—ASPCA alone shipped 200,000th animal to safety in March 2022 — there is still a crisis in this country. Americans ramped up dog adoptions and fosters after the pandemic in captivity in 2020, but more than two years later, adoptions have slowed and many shelters are back again. overflowing.
Animal Society’s best friends, Animal support services for humans and other major rescue organizations have sounded the alarm that dog and cat shelters are at increased risk of euthanasia this year.
So there is more and more demand for volunteers, who accept and donate than ever before, Wooten believes. She’s been pushing Dade County, where she lives in Georgia, to build a new animal shelter over the years and now with Free Puppies! debuting during the current crisis, she hopes it will eventually happen.
“Believe it or not, I think we are on the verge of it,” she said, adding, “There is a real value in adoption when it comes to rescue because we usually know the story behind it. animal and we want to make it the best possible location. “
Filmmaker Christina Thomas adores her rescue dog, Ruphus, who was found lost on the side of a California highway. Courtesy of Christina Thomas
Raise awareness — and hope
Filmmaker Christina Thomas shares a close bond with her rescue dog, Ruphus. The making of the film meant a lot to her, she said.
“I am very honored because [the Tri-State Rescue Ladies] let us walk into their lives and trust us enough for us to follow them,” she told The Dog People. “They put us really right next to them.”
She was so moved by witnessing the hard work of “Tri-State Rescue Ladies” that she started volunteering at a local shelter in Los Angeles.
The film ends with an upbeat song, “Doo Wop Doggy,” by the family band, A. Rae Bandincluding photos of rescued dogs frolicking in and around the pool during a rescue event in Wisconsin.
“It was just a moment of hope for the end of the movie,” said Thomas. “We are all in this and any way we can help each other, we should. To save these dogs”.
A portion of each ticket sale is donated to animal rescue organizations. Visit movie website to learn more about the movie, upcoming release dates near you and list of resources to help participate in animal rescues.
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