The Story
Created in collaboration with Naturewatch Foundation, Fire Lily Studio, and supported by Rewriting Earth, A Tail of Two Dogs follows Toby – a loved family dog who knows only walks, affection, and safety, and 43 – a beagle bred for testing, living out his days behind lab doors, never feeling grass or kindness. The story draws from real practices, like 90-day pesticide tests on beagles – experiments that often provide no new benefit to human safety.
We then worked with influencers, creators and social media to ensure this story reached beyond the screen and into people’s hearts (and hit the reach figures we wanted).
@tailof2dogsfilm Let us tell you a Tail of Two Dogs… To help dogs like 43 and find out more ➡️ link in our bio #EndAnimalTesting #EndBeagleTesting #CrueltyFree #Dogs #Tailof2Dogs ♬ original sound – Tailof2DogsFilm
Designing Characters That Matter
Fire Lily Studio created both characters’ visual worlds that spoke straight to the heart; Toby and 43 are mirrors of one another – built from the same lines and colours, yet living in different worlds. Toby’s world is warm and familiar: rich light, soft textures, moments of simple joy. 43’s world is stripped back, sterile, and mechanical – the cold repetition of a life lived in confinement. Viewers saw their own dog, their neighbour’s dog, their childhood companion reflected in these drawn figures.
Touching People’s Hearts
When the film was released, the response was overwhelming. A Tail of Two Dogs became our most-viewed campaign content to date, reaching over 15 million views across just our own channels, over 3 million likes, nearly 100k comments and 300k+ shares and saves.
One comment on Naturewatch Foundation’s Instagram stood out in particular:
As someone who used to work in animal testing and adopted a lab beagle before quitting – these sorts of things typically don’t bother me, but this? This animation broke my heart and it doesn’t even come close to the reality of what actually goes on in a lab for these dogs 💔
The film sparked conversations across the political spectrum and helped fuel Naturewatch Foundation’s push to end beagle testing in the UK. It also became a cornerstone for their grants programme supporting animal-free research.
