Animal lovers can now prepare themselves for any furry fatalities that may appear in movies with the website “Does The Dog Die.”
The site tracks a variety of factors that could be triggering. Creator John Whipple told Lifehacker, “It was originally my sister’s idea. She found it frustrating to watch a movie with a dog in it because worrying over the survival of the dog made it impossible to enjoy the movie.”
Since its creation, the site has gone from one simple question “Does the Dog Die?” to tracking around 57 categories. As well as dogs, readers can also search for cats, horses and the more general “an animal dies (besides a dog, cat or horse),” according to Bustle.
The site’s description reads “crowdsourced emotional spoilers for movies, tv, books and more.” In true crowdsourcing tradition, users can also suggest new categories to track, which are then voted on by the community.
Users can also leave comments, revealing details of the scenes that people may find upsetting (which sometimes includes spoilers to the plot). Just be careful when searching for a new movie if the only thing you care about is what happens to the animals. If you’ve never seen 2008’s “Marley & Me” — sorry for the spoiler.
There are a variety of content trackers on the web which allow users to search by categories such as jump scares or instances of sexual assault, a topic which can be extremely triggering for victims.
Whipple worked in collaboration with the team at Unconsenting Media to develop a similar platform that more accurately tracks instances of such violence. When asked why his site doesn’t do this he said, “I believe that detracts from our core values and is not the direction I want to take the site.”
One category Whipple never anticipated including was a strobe effect warning, useful to those who suffer from epilepsy. He said of the category “I’m glad we are able to help!”
Though some people may argue such sites take all the fun out of watching a film, Whipple explains that the intention behind the website is to “allow people to enjoy media without fear of encountering an unwelcome triggering surprise.”
