Underdog, Polly Purebreed and Anyone with Disney Contact

I do not have children and am not much into pop culture and just learned yesterday that there is a new movie coming out from Disney in early August called Underdog in which one of the main characters, named Polly Purebreed, is a Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. This presents real concerns about an explosion of overbreeding at the puppy mills and by BYB with potentially disastrous consequences. I e-mailed the officers and rescue chairs of both CKCSC and ACKCSC and asked if any effort had been made to ask Disney to do the responsible thing and run a trailer when the movie is shown or otherwise contribute to a campaign about responsible breeding, questions to ask your breeder before you purchase a dog, etc. I have not (yet) heard from ACKCSC but did hear from both the President and the Rescue Chair of the CKCSC who indicated they attempted to find someone at Disney to talk to but without success. Does anyone out there have any contacts at Disney for this type of issue? They need to understand this is not PETA folks opposing the use of animals in films, but responsible pet owners/breeders who simply want to educate the public about purchasing Cavaliers (and Beagles and any other breeds in the film) from those who care about the long term health and the good temperment of the puppies they breed. If you do have a contact, you can go the CKCSC (www.ckcsc.org) and the ACKCSC (www.ackcsc.org) websites and pass the information along yourself or you can e-mail me and I will pass it along. This seems like such a no brainer if we could just get the right people in touch with one another. (In fact, this may have already been done by someone but at least not to the knowledge of CKCSC folks.)

PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST TO OTHER CAVALIER BOARDS/LISTS.

Here's the website for the movie. There are a couple of trailers where you can see the Cavalier character.

I absolutely hate to wish Disney ill will, but I hope this movie is a flop. I am scared to death that if it does well, the demand for cavaliers will skyrocket. People will want a cavalier because they saw this beautiful dog in the movie. Too many will do little, if any, research. I think something prior to the movie starting about responsible breeding may help some, but too many people ignore that type of thing.

And the puppy mills and BYB's will be right there trying to make a fast buck.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong about this. Several years ago there were rumors about a remake of Lady and the Tramp using live dogs; Lady was supposed to be a Cavalier. Every breeder we knew was praying that movie wouldn't happen and thankfully it did not. This movie is going to happen and I hope it doesn't have the results I fear it may.

It will definitely drive demand. The appearance of Charlotte's cavalier in Sex and the City sure sparked interest and that didn't have the hard push of kids demanding the dog of course! This is going to be a big issue not just for breeders but for rescue. We all know what happened with cairn terriers and dalmations, to mention two breeds whose health has been battered by puppy millers for a market created by movies. And how many of these breeds pour into rescues still because kids want a dog just like the one in the movies and then the family finds out it really cannot manage a dog and the kids are not the ones who should or can be totally in charge of the dog -- the responsibility always ultimately resides with the adults. I think the film will cause a huge rise in demand for cavaliers in the US and would bet the millers and big USDA suppliers to pet shops started planning for that rise a while back. Don't know if it will affect numbers so much over this side of the water, where the breed is already in the top 10 for breed popularity and the most popular toy breed.

I have now been in touch with both of the Cavalier Clubs in the United States and they are attempting to make contacts with Disney. I also sent a letter to Disney asking them to assist with public education on responsible breeding and responsible pet ownership and to contact the breed clubs. I think it is important to NOT act like a lunatic if you contact Disney, but to appeal to them as a responsible corporate citizen. It has also occured to me that perhaps local breed clubs or all breed clubs could appeal to the movie theatres in their areas and have posters or fliers with pertinent information available when the film is showing. I may try to do that here. None of it will really stop the problem but hopefully with some effort the problem can be somewhat minimized.

Great ideas!

I wonder if the breed clubs have ready made flyers that we could print and then take to a low cost photocopy store to print.

If not, Phyllis, are you making a flyer? Or perhaps we could work on one as a group?

I would definitely be willing to do this in my area.

I am going to try this week (but with my schedule it may be next week) to contact the All Breed Club in my area and also a couple Rescue groups I know and see what they may already have on the responsibilites of purchasing a puppy, etc. If they do not have something I think may work I may try to draft something myseld. I will be happy to share. I am still hoping that CKCSC and/or ACKCSC will be successfully in contacting Disney and getting something done on a national level, but I do think the local approach is important as well.

Will see if I can find the name of someone at Disney to contact. I've heard that this movie was being made but didn't know about the Cavalier.

I was working for a vet who bred Dalmations when 101 Dalmations came out several years. He spent hours on the phone and writing letters trying to get something done, but I don't believe he had much success.