A Stray Dog's RUFF LIFE Film Festival Campaign Begins!

​"The only reason those pets are dying is because they happen to be homeless temporarily..." 
Tawny Hammond, Best Friends Animal Society

A Stray Dog's RUFF LIFE is a groundbreaking feature length documentary, created by a volunteer film-making couple as they capture 8 years of striking visuals and compelling evidence uncovering the truth behind American animal shelters killing millions of homeless dogs every year. 

This shocking and thought-provoking documentary is as eye-opening as "Cowspiracy" or "Blackfish" and as inspiring as "the Cove".

Here's what the Austin Chronicle's Richard Whittaker wrote in his One in a Crowd column

Help end the killing of millions of homeless dogs in American shelters each year! #RUFFLIFE is fundraising here on GoFundMe to save up to 8% in fees that other platforms charge.  We are always finding ways to stretch our budget as much as possible.

We have been working tirelessly on this film for more than 8 years, and we are finally eyeing the finish line!

We produced this film on our own, with support from the World Animal Awareness Society over the years.  No grants, no sponsors, or financial backers.  We've put in countless hours over 8 years researching, investigating, planning, filming, and editing to get to where we are, and spent tens of thousands of dollars to produce it, but without your help we can only go so far. 

Now we need your help in getting the film and its message to the world.
Join us in this campaign and you will be supporting the absolute most important part of this film:  Being Seen By The World.

What We Need & What You Get
In order to have this film seen by as many people as possible, we need to raise $22,500 to cover the costs of post production, promoting and distributing the movie. We have created an amazing impactful  film, but unless we can get people to see it, it does no good to anyone.
Your contribution to this campaign pays for:

-Color grading
-Final sound mix and master 
-Mastering a Digital Cinema Package (needed for film festival theater screenings) 
-Targeted film festival showcase
-Aggressive PR strategy
-Online target marketing 
-Coordinated events and tours with non-profit partners to raise awareness about homeless dogs
-Distribution
The more we can raise, the further we can promote this important film and ultimately influence change on a national scale.

In Detroit, MI the indefatigable Terri Sumpter, founder of Detroit Pit Crew Rescue fights for homeless street dogs with every free minute she has, which frequently means fighting with existing responsible "authorized" agencies, like the Michigan Humane Society, a 140 year old institution that wrote many of the animal welfare laws in Michigan.
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As the leader and principal rescuer of a small volunteer based dog rescue, Terri is often confronted with homeless and abused dogs that  no one else is providing help and hope to.  The larger more established agencies don't see these animals as important members of their community - or at the very least not important enough to supply meaningful resources toward the resolution of the problem.

In Houston, Texas hundreds of dog rescues and newspaper articles printed nearly daily can attest to the dog population crisis the city is suffering through.  Best Friends Animal Society has bought land, and is committed to opening their own shelter because the problem is so bad.
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Why are homeless dogs so prevalent in Houston?  To answer that question, our World Animal Awareness Society Films team went to Houston before and immediately after Hurricane Harvey and discovered a very disturbing secret one shelter was keeping, which plays a big part in why there are so many dogs loose and homeless on the streets.  This shelter refuses to be transparent about the work they are doing to support the city of Houston.

We follow prolific independent dog rescuers in both Detroit and Houston, and contrast them with two animal societies both having their own Animal Planet series - one in each city, only to discover all the differences between them, and the ways they help and hurt each others efforts to save more homeless dog's lives.

We also present the ongoing story of Austin, Texas and their efforts to save, shelter, care for and adopt out their homeless dogs to new families.  Austin is the largest city in America committed to saving more than 95% of the homeless dogs from their streets and shelter system every year.  And in the process generating more than $150,000,000 in incremental revenue to the city.  We show you why large companies have stated the culture of dogs in the lives of Austinites is a factor for moving their businesses to Austin.  Help end the killing and mistreatment of homeless dogs in America.

Please click any of these links to support RUFF LIFE.  We have some amazing incentives for donors at all levels.

Here's the title track RUFF LIFE as music video featuring Arthur Yoria rescuing his dog Rita in real time.  This was filmed half way through our journey of making A Stray Dog's RUFF LIFE