Thousands of New Orleans pet owners had no choice but to leave their animals behind in the evacuation before Hurricane Katrina, as the shelters awaiting them could not accommodate dogs and cats. Geralyn Pezanoski’s 2009 documentary looks at the volunteer rescue efforts that saved many surviving dogs, and then at some of the ensuing struggles between owners determined to recover their pets and animal rescuers who’d been obliged by sheer logistics to place the animals in new homes. The film is balanced enough to acknowledge that there’s right and wrong on both sides. Dog people will be sobbing in the aisles; hard-core anthropocentrists will still probably be engaged by the film’s sociopolitical dimensions. 83 min.
