How To Protect Your Animals On A Movie Set

Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures

A Domestic dog's Purpose wasn't meant to be a controversial movie.

If anything, the family-friendly motion-picture show (based on Due west. Bruce Cameron's book of the same name) seemed likely to have audiences crying in a Marley & Me kind of way. We could barely make it through the commercials in i piece.

But when TMZ released video footage earlier this month that purported to show what looked like a fearful dog being forced into the water by a trainer, more than than just devoted animal rights activists were immediately concerned. If you're looking for consensus on an issue, it's that abuse of an animal in any form is unacceptable.

The film's printing junket and scarlet carpeting premiere were hastily canceled amid the controversy as people started to question just what goes into making a movie in which animals have center phase.

And then those involved in the making ofA Dog'due south Purpose immediately set out to quell potential moviegoers' concerns.

Amblin Entertainment, Birds & Animals Unlimited (the company that provided the dog trainer on ready and the American Humane Clan (which sends on-gear up animal welfare monitors) each launched an independent investigation into the stunt in question prior to the film'due south release. Ultimately, they reached the aforementioned determination every bit A Dog's Purpose star Dennis Quaid, who toldToday, "Absolutely no dogs were harmed in this." Rather, the footage that went viral had been "spliced, edited and manipulated that to brand it expect as if a dog was existence abused."

And audiences took their word for it. A Dog'southward Purposeopened at No. 2 at the box part this past weekend with an $18.4 1000000 haul in wide release, a strong figure since the film'due south reported budget was near $22 one thousand thousand.

Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures

Mark Stubis, a spokesman for the AHA, told Eastward! News in an email that the video "was misleading and edited" and that "evidence supports the finding that the two scenes shown in the edited video were filmed at dissimilar times."

He reiterated that the "full spectrum of safety measures were in place" during shooting."Production was stopped after the dog showed signs of stress," he explained. "The canis familiaris was not forced to swim in the water during this have." Stubis added that the full report from "a third-party investigation past a respected independent animal cruelty skillful" deputed past the AHA would be completed past the end of last calendar week. (As of press time, the AHA has yet to release the full findings of this investigation to the public.)

Just the very possibility that dogs could be treated cruelly in other scenarios ignited a much larger conversation about the use of animals in picture show and television receiver.

As Bob Ferber, a former prosecutor and founder of 50.A.'southward Animal Protection Unit of measurement, put information technology to E! News, the video from A Dog'southward Purpose might exist "a relatively minor thing...but it does illustrate that this is the standard in the industry."

"What should've happened [in this instance] was the handler should have said, 'Nosotros demand to take 10 minutes...Take a suspension,' or, 'Nosotros'll shoot this tomorrow,' or, 'Let's try something else,'" said Ferber, who retired from public service in 2013 but continues to piece of work independently as an animal welfare attorney. Co-ordinate to Ferber, though, filmmakers are oftentimes reluctant to take unscheduled breaks because of the high price it tin have on production.

"I've been a consultant for some Television receiver shows...and I saw that, you know, when an thespian is sneezing or something breaks, information technology's a huge deal," he said. "The dollar signs are going—it costs money to take a break...a 10-infinitesimal suspension that wasn't scheduled, that means information technology might be 10 minutes into overtime which can cost tens of thousands of dollars...then it's similar, 'We're not gonna take a break for an animal. You get that animal to do it, or nosotros'll become another animal from somewhere else.'"

Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which had called for a boycott of A Canis familiaris's Purpose, regularly takes consequence with live animals being office of a film or TV production for the very reason Ferber mentioned.

PETA Vice President Lisa Lange tells East! News, "...The [entertainment] industry, from beginning to finish, is an industry that's based on money and animals having to perform on cue, [and] because time is money on the gear up of a picture, we are opposed to using them."

Both Ferber and Lange were critical of the AHA, the self-proclaimed "industry watchdog." The nonprofit organization monitors the treatment of animal actors during filming and are the only ones who can award productions the "No Animals Were Harmed" end-credit certification. The AHA also receives funding from the Screen Actors Guild-Producers Manufacture Advocacy & Cooperative Fund, and critics fence that these financial ties jeopardize AHA'due south objectivity.

In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported on alleged "improper cosiness betwixt the AHA and the entertainment business organization." Ferber, who was featured in the profile, told E! News that as he sees information technology, "AHA's survival depends on this [industry relationship]."

The AHA maintains, even so, that this is not the example. Stubis, the arrangement's spokesman, told East! News that the AHA's "No Animals Were Harmed" plan "is based on the comprehensive Guidelines for the Safety Utilise of Animals in Filmed Media, [which are] rigorous, species-specific protocols that are divers, reviewed, and regularly updated by a Scientific Advisory Commission of leading, contained animal scientists, animal behaviorists, veterinarians, and fauna ethicists."

He also noted the program is led past "a renowned veterinarian with more than than 20 years' experience, and many of our trained Certified Fauna Safety Representatives are besides veterinarians (Doctors of Veterinary Medicine)."

The AHA guidelines are extensive and explicitly land that, "No fauna volition be killed or injured for the sake of a film production," and, "American Humane Clan will not allow any animal to be treated inhumanely to arm-twist a performance." No drugs or sedatives may be administered to an animate being for the purpose of filmmaking. If a production buys or leases live animals for a scene (hamsters, goldfish, etc.), the AHA requires proof that they were all returned or adopted to suitable homes in good health and condition. Qualified trainers must utilize "only positive reinforcement techniques to train and manage animals in filmed entertainment."

There's an entire chapter on water safety, with specific requirements outlined regarding cleanliness, temperature, flow rates and rescue plans.

Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures

But co-ordinate to Ferber, there'south not enough accountability when it comes to enforcing to these guidelines. "[That's why] nosotros need an independent, independently funded organization," he said. "Honestly, I'm not sure how it should happen, just I think in that location's a model at least to look at which is how children are cared for on the set...[We accept] laws where there are true, independent monitors that are with the children all the time, that not only protect their health—their physical health, their emotional health—they make sure they go their education while the movie or Tv set show is being filmed."

Lange also takes issue with the current organization of monitoring animal actors only during filming. "...for a long time we've been telling the AHA that they tin't give adequate ratings to movies unless they witness the training and unless they witness the living conditions," she told E! News, "and they monitor neither of those things."

The PETA VP said she thinks the AHA needs "a consummate overhaul" and "new leadership" in order to be effective. And while Lange said she thinks the utilise of CGI animals only "should be what we strive for, nearly definitely," in that location are more than ways to ensure the well-being of the real animals being used onscreen.

"...If you had an bureau that wanted to do right by animals, they would never requite an acceptable rating to a movie that uses wild fauna. Then no chimpanzees, elephants, tigers—considering the training is always violent for those animals," Lange claims, "and they would monitor the training sessions and the living conditions of domestic animals, as well."

At the end of the day, eliminating cruelty to animals—in whatsoever and all forms—is the common denominator.

The fact that in that location's this much discussion over what ultimately is proving to have been a non-incident on the set of A Dog'southward Purpose proves that transparency is going to exist increasingly important moving forward. Having the correct rules in place is the first step—and making sure they're followed, no excuses, is the goal.

(Eastward! News and Universal Pictures are both members of the NBCUniversal family unit.)

Source: https://www.eonline.com/news/825553/a-dog-s-purpose-is-to-be-loved-obviously-how-animals-in-film-tv-are-really-treated-on-set

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