The American Humane Association is an organization whose mission is to ensure “the safety, welfare and well-being of animals.” It created the “No Animals Were Harmed” program - familiar to anyone who’s seen the “No animals were harmed in the making of this film” disclaimer in a movie’s end credits - to oversee the treatment of animal performers in the film and TV industries. The Animal Humane Association has reportedly suspended its on-set representative - but can it be trusted? Though it’s clear the dog was distressed for at least some time, as seen in the video, we currently have no way of knowing how it actually ended up in the water. The dog could have, as the production company states, entered the water in a calmer state and then gone underwater. But the video doesn’t actually confirm that. Since the video cuts where it does, it creates a narrative that the dog was distressed and thrown into the pool. “Hercules ended up going under once filming resumed, but divers and handlers quickly rescued him,” the statement said.Ībout 10 seconds before the video ends, there’s a jump cut between the dog being distressed and the dog being in the water and going under. TMZ says the company claims that the filming resumed when the dog was comfortable and it was not thrown into the water. "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,” the company said in an official statement obtained by CNN.Īccording to Amblin Entertainment via a statement provided to CNN, the dog didn’t have to complete the scene after being forced in - where the first part of the video cuts off.
The German shepherd clearly does not want to be in the water, and is not in a playful mood.īut what must also be made clear is that the video is edited. It’s hard to watch, as you can visibly see the dog in distress. All throughout, there’s running commentary from an unidentified person who’s watching the incident from offscreen, giving a play-by-play about how the dog wants to get away and will just have to be thrown in. Toward the end of the video, it appears to go underwater and it looks like people on the set panic a bit. At one point, the dog is hanging on to the edge of the pool. In it, you can see a trainer trying to force a distressed German shepherd into a pool of rough water, as the dog tries to wriggle out of the trainer’s grasp. The center of this controversy is an exclusive video released by TMZ. Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Here’s what we know so far: The alleged abuse revolves around a German shepherd seemingly forced into rough waters And the movie’s premiere has been canceled.
The companies involved in producing and distributing the film are now investigating the incident as well. The video appears to be authentic, as the American Humane Association has responded by suspending its field representative who was supposed to be supervising the film’s treatment of its animal performers, and the film’s director has publicly rebuked the alleged abuse taking place.
On January 18, TMZ published footage of what could possibly be animal cruelty involving one of the dogs on set.
The recent news surrounding the movie might change that. It’s safe to say its audience might include almost everyone, but especially animal lovers. A Dog’s Purpose, the upcoming film from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment about how dogs don’t really die but instead are reincarnated over and over as other dogs to teach humans about love, was never going to be more than a slightly manipulative, feel-good movie targeted at anyone who has a soft-spot for puppies.