April 19, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Bryce Dallas Howard
Culture Representation: The documentary film “Pets” features a predominantly white group of people (with some African Americans, Asians and Latin people) discussing the special bonds that they have with their pets.
Culture Clash: Several of the pet owners talk about the challenges they face, particularly if they take care of several pets or if they take care of any pets with special needs.
Culture Audience: “Pets” will appeal primarily to people who like feel-good documentaries about animals and animal caregivers.
The documentary “Pets” offers a mostly lighthearted view of how pets and humans deeply affect each others’ lives. The movie excels at giving perspectives from people of diverse backgrounds and ages. The content is more entertaining than educational.
Directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, “Pets” has a similar format to her 2020 documentary “Dads,” which was her feature-film directorial debut. Some of the interviews are soundbites that were recorded in a studio, while the other interviews are in longer segments that are feature profiles. The interview soundbites are from children. The longer profiles are of adults who treat their pets like beloved members of their families. Besides the subject matter, the main difference between “Dads” and “Pets” is that “Pets” does not have interviews with celebrities.
“Pets” begins with a montage of video clips from social media showing people getting emotional when they find out that they’ve gotten pets as gifts. Throughout the documentary, there are soundbites of children commenting about their own experiences with their own pets. A recurring comment from all pet owners is that pets give unconditional love and generally make people feel better; people can learn a lot from pets; and pets can be easier to confide in than people.
Travis Ford and Adam Burke (a gay couple in Ridgefield, Connecticut) are shown during their journey of adopting a puppy named Blue from the Sato Project, a rescue group that finds homes for stray dogs from Puerto Rico. Ford and Burke say that Blue is the first pet they’ve adopted without meeting the pet in person first. They’re adopting Blue to be a companion for their senior dog Delilah, who was 17 years old at the time the documentary was made.
Sterling Davis (a cat rescuer in Asheville, North Carolina) talks about how he grew up in an abusive household that left him emotionally scarred, but his life changed with the help from a special Himalayan cat that he named Rick James, who died several years ago. Davis (who says he used to be a rapper) now operates a cat rescue service that does a lot of TNR (trap-neuter-return) work for feral cats that need to live outdoors. He says his experience surviving an abusive childhood has made him feel compassion for stray cats because he can relate to them feeling helpless in a bad situation. His rescue van (which is called Trap King) has an image of his cat Rick James. At the time this documentary was filmed, Davis had a cat named Alanis Mewisette that was his closest feline companion.
Sergi Basolí (an adventurer in Calella de Palafrugell, Spain) has dedicated his life to traveling by sea and by land. Before he met his love partner Eva (who is briefly seen in the documentary with their son Joe), he was a bachelor looking for a travel companion. He found that companion with a friendly mutt named Havana. And when he unexpectedly adopted a stray kitten named Goku, Havana treated Goku like Goku was her own child. Goku and Havana both learned how to live on sailboats and navigate rough terrain on hikes.
Kristin Hartness and Jay Yontz (an engaged couple in Providence, North Carolina) have a male pig named Ziggy, who was adopted by Hartness in 2011, when Ziggy was a baby. Ziggy is now almost 300 pounds. Having a pig of this size meant that Hartness and Yontz had to give up certain housing, so they spent a number of years traveling by motor home, just so they could keep Ziggy. Hartness and Yontz now own and operate Ziggy’s Rescue Farm Sanctuary, which has a specialty in taking care of animals with special needs. A cute female pig named Zippy (with paralysis in the lower half of her body) is featured in the documentary.
Shinobu Takahashi (a dog rescuer in Nagoya, Japan) talks about how a special dog he had named Daca changed him at a low point in his life when Takahashi was feeling down over the failure of a business that he owned. Daca (who is now deceased) inspired Takahashi to go into dog rescuing as a profession. Takahashi is also a dog trainer.
Shizue Funahashi (a retired widow in Nagoya) is part of a dog interaction program that Takahashi started for senior citizens because Japan has a law that rescue groups and adoption shelters cannot adopt out pets to people ages 65 and older. Funahashi talks about how her two dogs are her best friends. She also gets teary-eyed when she remembers how her late husband’s dog Pom Pom was his constant companion and died one year after her husband passed away.
Rodney Stotts (a falconer in Charlotte Court House, Virginia) says he used to be a drug dealer in Washington, D.C., but he turned his life around because of his love of animals. The special owl in Stotts’ life is named Hoot. Stotts has a rescue sanctuary for birds of prey and other animals. He’s also shown introducing Hoot to kids who visit the sanctuary.
The children interviewed in the “sound bites” parts of documentary are interviewed solo or in pairs. (The kids interviewed in pairs are siblings.) The kid interviewees are all adorable and range in ages from 6 to 15 at the time the documentary was filmed.
Howard’s children Beatrice Howard-Gabel and Theo Howard-Gabel are among those interviewed. The other children interviewed are Sabrina Beesely, Abner Chen, Axcel Chen, Eteri Coast, Sasha Dolan, Julia Gallagher, Amelia Jenkins, Xiaowan Jin, Iris Klumpe, Goldie Lee, Wyatt Liskey, Rhett Lopez, Mickele McKerring, Teddy McMahon, Tess Miyao, Ella Grace Oh, Kalista Price, LJ Randle, Jordan Roberto-Chen, Landon Sayer and Breanna Williams. Sayer is one of the more memorable kids because he and his dog both have cleft palates.
“Pets” touches on the realistic topic of coping with the death of a pet. It’s not a big part of the documentary, but the topic is handled with sensitivity without being too mawkish. Although the adults featured in the documentary profiles are engaging to watch, the documentary could have had better of a gender balance for the adults who are interviewed. Hartness and Funahashi are the only women who get significant screen time in “Pets.”
The documentary also could have been a little bit more information about pets in the workplace. For example, it would’ve been great to have at least one story about dogs that work for law enforcement, cats in bodegas, or horses that are part of guided tours. Mammals and birds get the vast majority of pet screen time in the documentary, while reptiles, amphibians and insects are barely mentioned and only briefly seen in the documentary. Of course, the possibilities are endless on what types of pets could have been in this documentary, so it’s understandable that the filmmakers had to narrow down the choices for a feature-length film.
“Pets” is an easy and very likable viewing choice for people of many generations and life experiences. There are plenty of other documentaries that explore the scientific aspects of domesticated animals. “Pets” is like looking at a family photo album and listening to personal stories rather than reading a fact-heavy textbook and getting an academic lecture.
Disney+ premiered “Pets” on April 11, 2025.