Honestly... Regardless of this movie Pugs are still being milled lots and bred without care and will continue to be. Especially since going to a reputable breeder for a Pug is going to cost in the ballpark of $1500-2000. Yes they put in the money to justify the cost, but Joe Blow is not going to pay that and will just hit up Susie Q down the road that has a litter. BYBs know they can charge up to $1000 and regular people will probably still put out. It's a losing battle and running my pug group it's in plain sight for me. As much as i speak about proper breeding practises to look for to ensure you're getting a pup from a reputable breeder, they do not care because people will always still buy from bybs over reputable breeders. Plus Pug rescues are IMO far too picky in most cases. From requiring potty rooms if you're out of the house more than 5 hours a day to requiring annual or biannual checkups at the vet with full diagnostics on top of charging an arm and a leg to adopt, it's not really that attractive to a regular person who just wants a cute Pug.
I see, so they were popular before? I guess the movie affected more or less depending were you live
, since pugs were very rare here before the first movie, but when the movies came many people wanted a "Frank" and the pet stores were full of pug puppies as well newspaper adds, it was more noticeable wit the second movie.
Also I got traumatized after some people I know got some pugs because of the movies, and later the pugs stared having many puppies and even mixing them to other breeds , like a male pug to a female cocker to see "how they will come out" , and they were begging people to keep the "ugly " puppies, and sell the pretty ones .
Some of offspring of the pugs the mixes to a terrier type mutt haven't stop making puppies since they were less than a year
and even begged me to breed my boy (but he is a toy poodle!) to them, and what is worse it appears they are inbreeding them, since somethings they don't know who is the father of most of the puppies.
I wish shelters, rescues, etc could be more relaxed, is so sad.
IMO people will go out and be unprepared and get dogs regardless of films.
Disney and a few others have at least TRIED to push responsible ownership, adoption etc.. but honestly, if a movie is enough to make someone go out and buy a dog, regardless, they are going to do it. Wether they want a pug like Frank or just want a dog period..it's going to happen. Pugs are already popular so yea, it's easier.. but sadly, I don't think MIB did anything other than maybe give a tiny boost to an already booming puppy mill market.
and as Mandy said, yea, if other avenues were easier or within reach there might be another solution but sadly.. we hit the same wall we always do in these kinds of instances. Rescues/real breeders are too picky/expensive/unfriendly and BYB/petstores are simply the easiest user friendliest option.
Realistically, you CAN'T get mixed breeds to do ALL movies featuring dogs. Especially things like MIB and Disney films, they require A LOT of acting and scenes and behaviors not to mention they have to keep in mind that they need to find a look-a-like for later films..
It's easy to push the blame onto the movies but honestly, what else can they do?
The root comes down to education. The more people know about responsible dog ownership and what it takes.. the more people will think twice before letting themselves be swayed by breeds/dogs on the big screen.
I noticed in some movies a better message, very different than in classics like the Lady and the Tramp and Beethoven were they had puppies because they were cute and the parents in love.
In the movie Hugo for example there was an agressive male daschund and later they got him a girlfriend to " make him sweet" but mush later in the movie he was still having problems and a guy came to talk about something like that "getting him a female is not going to make him happy, he needs to learn how to socialize " :hail:
