Ricky’s Favourite Article of 2024. Dog War claims the SPIRIT OF RAINDANCE AWARD at this year’s Raindance Film Festival

By Dr Ricky Ghosh Dastidar

All pictures have been provided by the film’s publicists.

Dog War is an exciting new documentary that follows a team of war-hardened canine-loving combat veterans fighting to stop the dog-meat trade in South Korea and saving countless dogs in the process. The film’s World Premiere took place recently in London as part the Raindance Film Festival and even went on to win the prestigious SPIRIT OF RAINDANCE AWARD.

After the screening, I spoke to the film’s director Andrew Abrahams, who shed a lot of light over his powerful and thought-provoking documentary.

Here is what he had to say:

 How long is the movie and was it difficult to edit?

The final movie is 91 minutes long. At one point, we had over 4 hours of footage so there was a lot of cutting that happened. Interestingly, a lot of the film was actually created in the editing room because there wasn’t necessarily a pre-determined story with a beginning, middle and end. But miraculously, an ending came about where there was some good news; with the dog farms being closed down and the final victory being South Korea banning the trade altogether, so we were very lucky to have some-what of a Hollywood ending!

How difficult was it to record the footage and did you ever get into trouble with the police or local authorities?

 No, not at all. There was some tension whilst we were filming in the markets but we never got into a situation where the authorities were called in and nobody was ever arrested, which could easily have been a possibility.

It may also be important to say that because of the relationship between South Korea and USA and the military presence there, they may be a little soft on Americans in general. I don’t know if we were counting on that but it could have come into play.

How willing were the people working in the dog-meat trade to talk about their experiences?

The vendors themselves were very apprehensive as you saw in the film. They didn’t want to be filmed as recently more and more footage has been posted online and they see that as a threat to their livelihoods. They generally don’t want to go on camera and talk about it but in our film, we got to interview the Chairperson of the National Dog-Meat Association; whose job is to talk to members of the press. And I found him to be very polite and cordial. He invited us into his home and we even got to meet his pet dog!

How unbiased did you try to be whilst tackling the main topic of the documentary?

When I started the film, it was important for me to go into it from the perspective of someone who has very little knowledge on the subject and without any hint of bias, but at the same time, I have great compassion for not just dogs, but all animals. However, I also have compassion for the people whose livelihoods are being threatened by this and who feel like it is their tradition. A lot of people in the dog meat eradication industry vilify these people but it was not my aim to try and demonize them in my film.

Do you see an end-point to this war on the dog-meat trade and if so, do you think it will come soon?

As John, who is one of the main subjects in the film said in the Q&A after the screening, even if, or when the whole thing is banned, there will still be a black market and atrocities towards animals will continue to some extent. Therefore, I’m not expecting it to stop completely but I do believe in terms of humanity, there is a greater arc towards more compassion, even though there will never be a time when we can wholeheartedly say that we have achieved victory

The end-point of our film is the closure of the dog-meat farms, the largest dog-meat market in South Korea (Moran Market) being shut down and the government announcing the banning of dog-meat altogether from 2027 onwards. So that’s our happy ending and some people may say ‘we don’t need to fight this war anymore’ but sadly this issue is not just in South Korea.

Did you worry about the scenes that viewers may have found difficult to watch due to the suffering of the animals?

This was actually the biggest fear for me.

And it is also a factor for buyers and distributors because there is an assumption that it is simply too much for some people. Like it is ok to show people dying but when it comes to a dog, that’s a whole other level.

Even though it is such an important issue, some people might still be put off. But I think we need to get over that hump and allow people to watch the film despite being limited by their initial fears.

I think that people who do watch the film, like yourself will say that it was not nearly as bad as they thought it would be. My ultimate hope for the film is that people get engrossed in the story and taken on an entertaining and action-packed journey that stays with them long after it finishes.

Dogmeat Trade Statistics

The dog meat trade is most widespread in China, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Nagaland in northern India. This trade is well-organized, with high numbers of dogs being stolen or taken from the streets, transported over long distances and brutally slaughtered. In South Korea, dogs are also intensively farmed for the meat trade.

Dogs are also known to be eaten in certain African countries such as Ghana, Cameroon, DRC and Nigeria, and there are reports that dogs are killed for personal consumption by some farmers in remote parts of Switzerland, but nothing compares to the sheer scale of the trade across Asia. (Humane Society International)

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save