The Secret Life of Pets

Plot[edit]

A Jack Russell Terrier named Max lives with his owner Katie in a New York City apartment. While she is away, he socializes with other pets in the building: tabby cat Chloe, pug Mel, dachshund Buddy, and budgerigar Sweet Pea. One day, Katie adopts the mongrel Duke, making Max envious. Enraged by Max's attitude, Duke tries to abandon Max in an alley, but they are both attacked by cats led by Sphynx cat Ozone who removes their collars and leaves them to be caught by Animal Control. Duke fears that he will be killed if he goes back to the pound.


Max and Duke are rescued by a white rabbit named Snowball, the leader of "the Flushed Pets", a gang of drain-dwelling animals who hate humans because their owners abandoned them. After Max and Duke pretend to despise humans by saying they “killed” their owners, the Flushed Pets invite them to join. Before they can prove their loyalty through a viper bite, Snowball learns that Max and Duke are domesticated. With their cover blown, Max and Duke escape the drains and board a ferry to Brooklyn, inadvertently killing the viper in the process. Snowball vows revenge and leads the Flushed Pets after them.


Meanwhile, Gidget, a white Pomeranian who is in love with Max, discovers that he is missing and decides to find him, recruiting a red-tailed hawk named Tiberius to find Max, but he mistakenly locates Ozone, whom Gidget coerces into telling what he knows about the dogs. They then enlist Mel, Buddy, Chloe, guinea pig Norman and Sweet Pea. On the way, they meet Pops, an old Basset Hound who helps Gidget and the pets find Max. Gidget and her team later encounter Snowball, who vows to kill them as well, and Norman is captured as the rest of Gidget's team flees.


In the meantime, Duke tells Max about his previous owner Fred, who adopted him as a puppy and loved spending time with him. One day, Duke got lost while chasing a butterfly and was caught by Animal Control, but Fred never came to claim him. They visit Fred's house nearby, confident he will still love Duke and take him back, but they learn from the resident cat Reginald that Fred has died. Heartbroken, Duke accuses Max of attempting to get rid of him and barks at the new homeowners who have just returned to the house and called Animal Control. The handlers catch Max, but Duke interferes long enough for Max to escape and ends up being captured instead.


While trying to rescue Duke, Max is attacked by Snowball who tries to kill him. However, when his gang is captured, Snowball has to work together with Max to save them. They drive a bus into the Animal Control van on the Brooklyn Bridge, stopping traffic. The Flushed Pets encircle Max intending to harm him, unaware of Max's new partnership with Snowball, but they are saved by Gidget and her team. The van plummets into the East River as Max tries to free Duke, Snowball decides to jump into the river to give them the keys to Duke's cage and escape the van.


The entire group returns to the apartment block by pig-driven taxi. Snowball and the Flushed Pets form a new plan to annihilate all humans, but a girl named Molly arrives and adopts Snowball, and the remaining Flushed Pets head back to the drain. At first, Snowball resists, but gives in and lets himself become re-domesticated. The other pets return to their homes and embrace their owners, while Max and Duke finally reunite with Katie.