Réalisé à partir de caméras cachées et d’images jamais vues auparavant, Earthlings exhibe les pratiques quotidiennes de certaines des plus grandes industries du monde, toutes reposant sur l’exploitation des animaux.
Le film suit les pérégrinations de Ric O'Barry, ancien dresseur de dauphins devenu activiste, qui enquête sur la chasse au dauphin à Taiji (Wakayama) au Japon.
The film begins with scenes showing the day-to-day life of a construction contractor by the name of Eddie Lama. Footage shows Lama discussing a construction job with one of his employees, and Lama also talks about how various different racial and ethnic groups who work at his firm are able to get along together. A scene is shown with Lama petting two dogs, and there is also footage showing that Lama keeps multiple cats in his office.
Il y a 50 ans, il y avait près de 500 000 lions en Afrique. Aujourd'hui, ils ne sont plus que 20 000. Pour ne rien arranger, les lions, contrairement aux éléphants, qui sont plus nombreux, ne bénéficient pas de réelle protection que ce soit par mandat gouvernemental ou par décret international . Ce constat c'est l'occasion pour Dereck et Beverly Joubert de lancer un cri du cœur.
Thousands and thousands of stray and unwanted dogs are born into the world everyday. When these animals have nowhere to go and no one to care for them, it becomes a situation that society needs to make a decision about. Animal shelters have become one solution for the issue of these homeless animals, but then the question becomes, what do we do with them then? This question is controversial, in that not all of them can be adopted. As a result many animals are euthanized, a fate extremely controversial in itself.
Dr. Jennifer Conrad is a veterinarian who treats animals in Hollywood. She focuses on large exotic cats that are used in films, shows or living in animal sanctuaries. One of her patients is the fully declawed tiger who appears in the 2009 film The Hangover. Conrad finds that the cats she is working with are suffering greatly because of elective onychectomy surgeries, commonly known as declawing, that are being performed on them. Often these surgeries are undertaken with the intent on making the animal safer to work with, but, ironically, make the animals more irritable and can change their behavior.