Now Playing in Theaters across North America!

Millions of rescue dogs from the rural South have been transported to new homes thanks to the tireless efforts of a grassroots network of dog rescuers. When Hurricane Katrina left more than 250,000 pets stranded, the infrastructure of modern pet transport for a nation-wide dog rescue effort was born. Since then, individual volunteers, transporters, shelters and rescue groups have created a movement to place millions of southern dogs in areas of the country with high demand for adoption but low supply.

FREE PUPPIES! is the true story of where those dogs came from and the challenges facing a group of intrepid women rescuers working together to save them.

A New York Times "Noteworthy Film of the Summer"!

"No, they won’t be handed out with tickets, but presumably seeing rescue dogs placed in new homes will make you smile all the same."
- The New York Times

"Free Puppies! is bursting with appealing canine co-stars, from tiny puppies to veteran hounds. You can completely understand why their plight has captured the hearts of so many humans, and you’ll be hard pressed not to tear up a time or two when their backstories are shared — or when they’re matched with eager adoptive families. It’s dog-gone touching."
- Betsy Bozdech, Alliance of Women Film Journalists

"Like a friendly dog wanting to play a game of tug of war, directors Samantha Wishman and Christina Thomas’ charming documentary Free Puppies! pulls on the viewers’ heartstrings with a truly inspirational story. Best of all, the film is a great testament to grassroots movements who aren’t afraid to tackle a huge cause that they believe in."
- KPFK Film Club

"Warm and inspirational...a joy to behold! Highlights the compassion, determination and decency of the heroic female rescuers. Decency, after all, is a strength, so in many ways this doc is empowering for women as all as for all human beings, young and old, with a moral conscience. You might be inspired to either adopt a rescue dog, to join the rescuers on their mission, or to donate to help keep their mission afloat. Free Puppies! will make you stand up and cheer!"
- NYC Movie Guru

"It would be easy to simply call Free Puppies! one of the truly feel-good docs of 2022, though I can't really say that such a description really describes this absolutely engaging and entertaining feature doc from First Run Features. However, Free Puppies! is a documentary with a mission and that mission comes vividly to life not just in ways that feel good but also in ways that are serious, meaningful, driven, and sometimes even a little sad. There's never a moment when you don't absolutely love these women and their mission."
- Richard Propes, The Independent Critic

"Animal lovers will find a bittersweet watch in Free Puppies!, a documentary on volunteer rescue groups working to adopt dogs in areas of the U.S. that are high in strays. Locals like Monda Wooten have stepped up to rescue stray animals and push for spay-and-neuter services in the absence of an operating animal shelter...the issue of shelter funding is a pervasive one across the Southeast that, coupled with the year-round warm climate and high rates of poverty, has created an environment with too many stray dogs and not enough kennels or homes to keep them in. The film achieves its goal in raising awareness for these volunteer efforts, casting a spotlight on a chronically overlooked crisis."
- The New York Times

The first feature film on the booming national movement to relocate rescue dogs:

Time Magazine
How America Saved Millions of Dogs – By Moving Them

The New York Times
Everyone Wants a Rescue Dog. Not Everyone Can Have One

Co-Directors - Samantha Wishman & Christina Thomas
Run Time - 70 minutes
Language - English
Format - DCP, Proludio, Blu ray, mp4
Year - 2022
Genre - Documentary

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