The movie “The Plague Dogs” was based off of the novel written by Richard Adams, first published in 1977. Years later in 1982, the movie was written, directed, and produced by Martin Rosen, who adapted the novel to create this film.
The film addresses the increasing protests against animal testing within the 1970s and 80s, telling a daunting story of two dogs who manage to escape a research facility. Many consider this to be Adam’s magnum opus, or greatest work against animal cruelty, despite his numerous other books regarding similar topics.
The movie itself is animated in a classic 1980s cartoon style. The colors of the film, on the other hand, lacks the vibrant nature many of these cartoons had, resembling its darker plot through the imagery of dark landscapes and colors. In another classic film narrative, the audience can hear the dogs inner thoughts, and can watch them talk to each other as humans would.
In the movie, the audience follows two dogs named Snitter and Rowf. They start in an animal testing facility, being tested on frequently and living in kennels with other dogs. We follow them through both their escape and journey, learning how to survive in the wild by themselves. During this, the research facility grapples with the lost dogs, trying to avoid any blame being placed on them for their escape or the possible spread of any diseases they could be carrying.
A BRIEF SUMMARY (MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD)
In the hills and mountains of a small town, two dogs named Snitter and Rowf escape from a research lab. One, a terrier mix named Snitter with a bandage stuck to his head. The other, Rowf, an older black lab.
They escape from the research facility after Rowf returns from an experiment where they had been testing his endurance in water. They are on the run, killing off sheep with the help of Tod the fox, escaping from many men on the way.
Snitter still hopes to see his old master again, and is hopeful of meeting a kind man to take him and Rowf in. This naive attitude makes him approach a man with a gun, and in a mishap, the gun goes off, killing the man.
The dogs have been implemented into this crime, and the farmers of the land are bubbling with anger, determined to hunt them down. Word of the research facility’s work with the bubonic plague has spread, and now the public thinks the dogs have been infected with it. They run with Tod helping them, trying to escape from the valley.
A man pursues them, hoping to kill them. Tod attempts to scare him in hopes of getting him to leave, but instead the man trips and falls down the cliff face. A helicopter comes to investigate, and upon finding his dead body, panic begins to fester among the general public.
Now, the public is demanding that the police handle this situation as quickly as possible, and kill the dogs. Helicopters, men, and dogs scour the plains. Tod, in an attempt to distract the dogs and men, runs about the fields giving Snitter and Rowf enough time to escape onto a train.
On the train, they sleep for as long as they can, only waking once the train comes to an abrupt stop. Getting off, they smell the fresh sea on the cold breeze. Tod had briefly mentioned it, and with the hope of freedom glistening within them, they rushed towards the shore line.
Despite this, helicopters still follow in suit, and men are lined with firearms, ready to shoot them down at the first opportunity. Snitter, believing he sees an island, exclaims to Rowf that it’s their island, the place they can find freedom and call home.
Hesitant, Rowf follows, swimming after Snitter. As they swim, shots are fired at them, but with no luck. All shots miss, and the dogs continue to paddle forward into the open abysmal sea. Soon, there is nothing behind or infront of them, nothing but the sea. Snitter is ready to give up, saying he can no longer see the island he was so hopeful to reach. Rowf on the other hand, is not ready to give up.
He tells Snitter he can see it. That he can see the island, all Snitter has to do is keep following him. He promises they’ll be free of all they’ve gone through soon, as long as Snitter just keeps on holding on.
AFTERTHOUGHTS
This film questions the morality of these research facilities, and if the humans’ ornate curiosity is worth the suffering of these intelligent animals. While society is always pushing for change in medical sciences and advancements, it still comes at a price. In this film, we see the true cost of our own curiosities and developments.
It also addresses a looming problem of the time: violence. Through both military, war, and animal cruelty, it shows the viewer that violence isn’t always the answer. As the dogs are chased, we see the humanity within them. Their presumed guilt for carrying the plague is what causes them to get chased by the public.
Through this lens we can see that the blame isn’t on one person, but on everyone who decided the dogs were ruthless and bad from the beginning. They were treated unfairly based on a preconceived notion of guilt, which in the end, is not their fault. They are simply dogs who are doing what is necessary for their survival.
This movie is not for the faint hearted, especially for those who can not handle seeing dogs or animals being harmed. On the other hand, it offers a reality to animal testing facilities and the cruelty that often resides in them.
It also imposes an important question for the audience: who is truly to blame for the dogs’ behaviors throughout the movie, the dogs themselves, or the men who have mistreated them? And if either, are the actions taken against them righteous and fair?
In the end, the dogs never could truly escape from the horrors that haunted them during their short lived freedom. In some ways, they both knew that no matter how long they ran or how wild they became, they could never outrun what happened to them.
Despite this, they died on their own terms. They chose to swim to their own version of freedom, even when they knew there was nothing within the ocean ahead of them.
All the dogs could do was keep on moving forward. It was never their choice to be in the research facility, or hunted down. Even then, they continued to move forward no matter the obstacle. They did this in order to survive, not only physically, but mentally.
They stayed with each other till the very end. Snitter says to Ralph to “Look at the clouds Ralph. They never go backwards, do they? They only move forward”. In this moment, it tells the audience that even when we are overwhelmed by our hardships, and don’t want to continue, we have too.
To fight for others and ourselves, we must be constantly moving forward. We cannot be stopped by our own obstacles, instead we must keep looking onward.
