In all honesty, I’m a huge fan of watching movies. Of course I prefer movies with conscious undertones, but I would generally watch any movie that had a cool plot and good reviews. However, if I knew what was going on behind the scenes, I’m sure I wouldn’t have watched (and raved about) some of the movies I’ve seen.
As a dog lover and strong believer in reincarnation, I was super excited for the film, “A Dog’s Purpose,” to hit theatres. The trailer explores the past lives of an adorable dog that becomes incredibly attached to its owner, explaining that each and every one of us have a purpose here on Earth, which includes dogs. After dying, the dog reincarnates into another puppy who by fate ends up back in the hands of its original owner. You can watch the trailer here (and beware, it may bring you to tears).
On Wednesday, January 18, TMZ leaked the following footage, which clearly shows that the dog, Hercules, does not want to go into the turbulent water. Despite Hercules’ clear attempts to escape the water, his handler forces him in. Soon after, the dog goes under and divers quickly rescue him.
According to the Washington Post, the video has resulted in an investigation into its filming. The video has sparked a lot of controversy because of the dog’s unmistakable fear and the way the crew treats him. You can hear multiple voices in the background laughing and saying, “Just throw him in,” as if that’s any way to treat an animal.
Nevertheless, the production company, Amblin Entertainment, and distributor, Universal Pictures, released a joint statement claiming that the video footage was “edited” and stated, “the Amblin production team followed rigorous protocols to foster an ethical and safe environment for the animals.”
The statement goes on to say, “While we continue to review the circumstances shown in the edited footage, Amblin is confident that great care and concern was shown for the German Shepherd Hercules, as well as for all of the other dogs featured throughout the production of the film… There were several days of rehearsal of the water scenes to ensure Hercules was comfortable with all of the stunts. On the day of the shoot, Hercules did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot.”
Well, from what I can tell, the public isn’t buying it and neither is the movie crew. Numerous people involved with the film have already voiced their anger and distaste regarding the treatment of Hercules.
Gavin Polone, one of the producers, told Variety, “Had I been on the set, this would have never happened. This movie got made because of how I feel about animals. So this happened 15 months ago and should have been investigated immediately. It’s unconscionable that someone waited a year and three months to call attention to this.”
The director, Lasse Hallstrom, tweeted, “I am very disturbed by the video released today from the set of my film A dog’s purpose. I did not witness these actions. We were all committed to providing a loving and safe environment for all the animals in the film. I have been promised that a thorough investigation into this situation is underway and that any wrongdoing will be reported and punished.”
Actor Josh Gad, who plays the dog’s voice in the film, stated he was, “shaken and sad to see any animal put in a situation against its will,” and that he, “reached out to the production team and studio to ask for an explanation for these disturbing images.”
PETA is asking their supporters and any dog/animal lovers in general to boycott the film in order to fight this type of cruelty. American Humane Association (AHA) is even investigating the film, which is the organization responsible for governing the safety and protection of animal actors, and has suspended the on-set AHA safety representative.
What’s worse is that this isn’t the first time animal cruelty occurred on-set of a movie, it’s just gaining a lot of media attention right now.
Credit : collective-evolution.com
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