Shelter Dogs is a 2003 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 directed and produced by Cynthia Wade

Cynthia Wade

Cynthia Wade is an American television and film director, producer and cinematographer based in New York City. She has directed documentaries on social issues including Shelter Dogs in 2003 about animal welfare and Freeheld in 2007 about LGBT rights....

 about animal welfare

Animal welfare

Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and the ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 of animal euthanasia

Animal euthanasia

Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...

.

Synopsis

Shelter Dogs was filmed over three years at a rural New York State animal shelter

Animal shelter

An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost, or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats.Parrots, for example, are the third most common pet owned by people...

 run by Sue Sternberg.

Reception

Ken Eisner of Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

called the film engrossing and heartfelt. The film won the Grand Prize at the Director's View Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Newport International Film Festival

Newport International Film Festival

Newport International Film Festival was an annual film festival in Newport, Rhode Island, established in 1998 .The Newport Film Festival was generally held the first week in June and featured various international films at several local cinemas...

, the Best of the Fest award at the Northampton Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Orinda Film Festival. It was aired on television as part of the documentary series America Undercover

America Undercover

America Undercover is a television series of documentaries that airs on the cable television network HBO. Within the series are several sub-series, such as "Autopsy", "Real Sex" and "Taxicab Confessions". The series began in 1983 and, after a brief time being broadcast weekly in 2001, is now...

.