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The Dark Side of Disney’s ‘101 Dalmatians’ That Nobody Saw Coming

After the 1996 film, shelters reported a surge in unwanted Dalmatians, prompting Disney to add a pet ownership warning to its sequel.

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Walt Disney’s 1996 adaptation of 101 Dalmatians may have been a commercial success, but animal rights activists were none too pleased with what the movie ended up paving the way for. The film’s popularity quickly put Dalmatians right at the top of many a child’s Christmas list that holiday season. However, before long, their parents began to realize how difficult the cute and cuddly-looking spotted dogs were to raise. As a result, the poor creatures started turning up at animal shelters........

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