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ANIMAL LOVERS CALLED for a boycott of the upcoming movie “A Dog’s Purpose” after video footage emerged of an apparently terrified canine being forced into rushing water on the set.
The 2015 video, published by the celebrity website TMZ, shows a German Shepherd struggling to get away from his handler at the edge of a pool with swirling water.
“He ain’t gonna calm down till he goes in the water, you just gotta throw him in,” someone is heard saying on the video, as the dog claws at the edges of the pool and is finally pushed into the turbulent water.
The one-minute video, shot during the movie’s production near Winnipeg, Canada, ends with the dog going under the surface after running into the wall of the pool. Crew members are then seen rushing to recover the animal.
Animal rights groups expressed outrage over the footage and urged a boycott of the movie as many took to social media to express their anger.
Lisa Lange, vice president for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told AFP:
PETA is calling on dog lovers to boycott the film in order to send the message that dogs and other animals should be treated humanely, not as movie props.
Canada-based group Animal Justice said it had filed a complaint with authorities calling for the filmmakers to be charged with animal cruelty. The group’s executive director Camille Labchuk, said:
It is illegal to inflict suffering and anxiety onto animals, and there is no loophole that lets Hollywood moviemakers get away with abusing animals on a film set.
American Humane, the organisation that oversees animal safety during filming, said it was investigating the incident and had suspended its representative who was on the set.
In a series of tweets, the movie’s director Lasse Hallstrom said he was disturbed by the footage and had not witnessed the incident.
“We were all committed to providing a loving and safe environment for all the animals in the film,” he said, adding that he had been promised a thorough investigation and that anyone found guilty of wrongdoing would be punished.
Officials at producer Amblin Entertainment and distributor Universal Pictures, which is releasing the movie starring Dennis Quaid on 27 January, could not be reached for comment.
But in a joint statement to local media they insisted that the production team had adhered to “rigorous protocols” to ensure the safety of the animals.
They added that the dog in question, named Hercules, was “happy and healthy.”
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I was 4 when this story broke and i can still remember my then teenaged sisters crying at the TV watching it.
Doors chained shut is a horrifying thought, but in the context of that time, not so starnge. Health and safety as we know it now didn’t exist.
I was at a festival back in October, a complete idiot decided to throw a lighted cigarette up on top of a marquee with a lot of young people in it. No-one saw it happen, but there were only young people there and the next day the marquee company, who were taking it down, called me over on-site to see it. They wanted a witness to the damage it caused, so they could rightfully be compensated for the damage. Right over the marquee, which was on a sports ground, were CCTV cameras that would have very likey captured the incident. I asked the marquee company to report it to cops, who I think would have pursued it given the oppurtunity, but they said no as it would have impacted their working relationship with the sports ground. So the arsehole in question got away scot free.
Shite talk: An Irish history podcast. Quite fun.
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