I have two dogs: Hamilton and Oliver. Hamilton is a black toy poodle, and he’s ridiculously spoiled – he came from a purebred breeder. Oliver is a different story. He’s a white Maltese terrier that we rescued from a puppy mill crackdown in mid-2012.
Oliver is scared of everything. He was a nervous wreck when we got him, but slowly warmed up to my mom. Over five years later though, he still has trouble being comfortable with the rest of the family. Every once in a while though, we see him romping around with his tongue flapping in the air, happy as can be. That alone makes it worth it to take care of him – it’s hard to imagine how difficult his life would have been if he’d stayed in the mill.
Stories like this are essentially the subject of Second Chance Dogs, a documentary about the ASPCA that was recently released on Netflix. The film centers around the ASPCA Rehabilitation Center in Madison, New Jersey, which takes in rescued dogs from puppy mills that have debilitating behavioral problems. In the words of the experts, these dogs are “un-adoptable”. They’re scared, nervous, and inexperienced in socialization. The mission of the rehabilitation center is to offer therapeutic treatment for the dogs so that they become more comfortable around people and household environments.
When watching the documentary, you’ll follow the stories of Salty, Sugar, Avalon, and Thunder, and several others as they progress through the Rehabilitation Center’s ‘curriculum’, until they graduate to adoption centers. Watching these dogs’ behavior change throughout the film is remarkably rewarding. You’ll root them on as the staff at the Center reveal their clinical methods for reinforcing healthy behavior in the dogs. It’s an incredibly mission that they pursue, and you’ll see the effects firsthand: a fresh-from-the-mill dog with its tail between its legs will quickly turn into a bounding, exuberant puppy-at-heart. It’s hard not to imagine the incredible fulfillment that such a job must entail, and even harder not to run out the door to your nearest adoption center.
I watched this with my family and my two dogs passed out asleep on the couch with us. Hamilton will always be a little spoiled, but he’s gone great lengths to help Oliver learn how to be a dog again. Oliver, I’m sure, is living a much happier life than whatever alternative he would have had. If you like dogs, you should watch this documentary. If you don’t like dogs, I’m not sure what’s wrong with you, but you should still watch it. Maybe it’ll change your mind, or maybe you’ll even look at adopting next time you need a friendly companion in life.
