A Dog Named Gucci

For animal lovers, this informative documentary is both painful and a joy to watch. Essentially offering a history of the evolution of animal-abuse laws in the Southern U.S. over the last 20 or so years, A Dog Named Gucci focuses on several dogs whose suffering rallied activists to get behind protective legislation. The first case involves Gucci, a Chow-mix puppy who was hanged from a tree, beaten like a piñata, and set ablaze. The team of goodhearted people who saved Gucci despite his severe injuries inspired activists throughout Alabama to give prosecutors more legal ammunition to pursue abusers. But the path was not straightforward: opposition arose from interests who were concerned that protecting companion animals such as dogs and cats was a slippery slope that would lead to banning hunting. (There was also a hysterical legislator who insisted on the right to shoot a BB gun at his neighbor's dog for urinating on his lawn.) Similar stories in other states follow, and while such horrendous crimes are hard to hear in detail, the silver lining is that in each situation the surviving dog helped to spur the criminalization of abuse. The good news is that all 50 states currently have relevant laws on the books, and the FBI now pursues certain cases as federal crimes. Filmmaker Gorman Bechard's documentary actually goes beyond animal rights to illustrate how new criminal laws are shepherded through the legislative process (it's not easy, but it's democracy at work). Recommended. (T. Keogh)