An American movie would NEVER have that ending
Disclaimer: There is a MAJOR spoiler in here. Don't read any further if you haven't seen the film. And no, I'm not a dog abuser. I don't beat my animals. I'm actually a dog person, and volunteered at a pet store for several years. I'll put some heavy spacing between here and the first paragraph, out of courtesy.
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Can you imagine if this movie had played to an American audience? The studio would have gotten so many angry letters. Anyways, why is there such a taboo against killing dogs in American films? They always seem to be bulletproof. The most blatant example is in Independence Day, where the Golden Retriever runs past exploding cars and doesn't get a scratch.
I know that the dog gets killed in Old Yeller. That, however, is done off-screen. In The Mighty Celt, the dog gets its throat slit, and you see it lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. I think that's a better way to show it. It's shocking for the audience, and they can understand the shock that poor kid must be feeling.