The Plague Dogs is a 1982 British adult animated drama film based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Richard Adams. The film was written, directed and produced by Martin Rosen, who also directed Watership Down, the film version of another novel by Adams. The Plague Dogs was produced by Nepenthe Productions; it was released by Embassy Pictures in the United States and by United Artists in the United Kingdom. The film was rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violent images and thematic elements.
The film's story is centered on two dogs named Rowf and Snitter, who escape from a research laboratory in Great Britain. In the process of telling the story, the film highlights the cruelty of performing vivisection and animal research for its own sake (though Martin Rosen said that this was not an anti-vivisection film, but an adventure), an idea that had only recently come to public attention during the 1960s and 1970s.
Rowf (a Labrador-mix) and Snitter (a smooth fox terrier) are two of many dogs used for experimental purposes at an animal research facility in the Lake District of north-western England. Snitter has had his brain experimented upon while Rowf has been drowned and resuscitated repeatedly. One evening, Snitter squeezes under his cage and into Rowf's, where they discover his cage is unlatched. Eager to escape the tortures of life inside the facility, they explore, knocking over other cages and finally sneaking into the incinerator, where they are nearly killed before escaping.
I wear the mark defining time
Earth shook many a times as I've lived
Forever I have walked this path of mine
Many times I have questioned existence
Whenever Death is called upon
I'm the one to carry out his will
I'm the plague
Harvesting lives while I'm grinning in vain
Counting my causes on fingers decayed
I'm the plague
I am the plague but I have many names
Mankind has feared me for as long as fear has been
I am one with many a names but you can call me The Plague
I'm the plague
So many lives I've extinguished
While humanity seeks a cure
I'm the plague
For every disease where one survives
I evolve to disrupt by killing two more
I'm the plague
I am the plague but I have many names
Mankind has feared me for as long as fear has been
I am one with many a names but you can call me The Plague
I'm the plague
I'm the plague
I wear the scar, marked by him
Earth shook many a time as I've lived
Forever I have walked this path of mine
Forever I have questioned existence
... welcome to my quarters son, enjoy my hospitality
You see, I only fulfill his will, feel the pain...
Fire shall swallow the earth
Illness will conquer birth
Sole with my illwill, I'm blessed with its' curse
Damnation's the price for all in my way
I'm the plague
Daily I'm roaming my lane of death
Accomplishing mission: Evilution, for HIM
I'm the plague
I am the plague but I have many names
Mankind has feared me for as long as fear has been
I am one with many a names but you can call me The Plague
I'm the plague
I'm the plague
I'm the plague