Dogtown

National Geographic Channel

Dogtown is the largest no-kill animal sanctuary in the United States, located in stunning, Southern Utah canyon-country. At any given time, the state-of-the-art facility hosts between 1,500-2,000 animals from around the country and the world, including cats, horses, rabbits, goats, wild animals and various farm animals.

Every year, countless numbers of dogs are given up on - unwanted, abandoned for medical or behavioural reasons, the result of extreme abuse, or the unfortunate victims of circumstance. Many of these dogs will be unable to find permanent homes and will be euthanised when individuals and institutions throughout the country, and the world, are unable to care for them any longer. The dogs come from all over - mostly from shelters that don't have the resources to rehabilitate them and where they might otherwise be destroyed. For many of these dogs, Dogtown is the last resort - a dog’s last chance for redemption, hope or survival. For example, Dogtown helps heal dogs rescued from crisis conditions and abandonment, including a traumatized dog airlifted from a Middle East war zone, discarded street dogs rescued from an Ethiopian cave, and Los Angeles puppy mill dogs saved from lives of misery. Dogtown follows these dogs from their initial arrival at Dogtown, through their various medical and/or behavioural transformations, all the way through adoption, a lifetime spent at Dogtown, or in rare medical cases, death.

While most of these dogs deserve homes - unfortunately, not all will find them. Through the eyes of various Dogtown staff members, we will follow these dogs’ stories - learning different methods to combat behavioural issues, and various symptoms and treatments for a myriad of medical conditions, with the hope that eventually, these dogs will undergo a transition that somehow makes them more ‘adoptable.’ Can Dogtown’s veterinary staff stabilise an older dog with a brain tumour so he’ll have a chance to live out the remainder of his years in the comfort of someone’s home? Is there anyone out there who would consider adopting a neurologically-impaired dog who stumbles into things, and drools constantly? Is there any hope of change, for an abused dog, who doesn’t know any better than to protect itself through biting viciously? A story of second-chances, Dogtown is about people who believe in, and inspire possibility - and of dogs who win against the odds.