Dog with a Blog: ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ causes controversy
Dog trainer from major blockbuster responds to accusations of animal abuse
January 24, 2017
The heavily anticipated blockbuster “A Dog’s Purpose” has been recently accused of animal mistreatment due to an online viral video. Last week, TMZ released a behind-the-scenes video showing the lead dog being forced into water against his will by the film’s crew. According to the Huffington Post, the dog trainer has released a statement saying this video was “falsely edited” to appear darker than what actually happened.
You can read the full statement here at The Huffington Post, but in short, the trainer said that dog, Hercules, had been well-trained and picked for the movie due to his love of water. At one point during filming, a request was made for Hercules to enter a pool from a different location, which he did not enjoy, and was quickly removed by personnel. A voice can be heard saying “Just gotta throw him in,” but neither the crew nor the director can be sure who said this.
“It was not anyone with any authority over Hercules’ welfare,” the statement said, “as some of the news coverage implied.”
After TMZ released the video, it was retweeted by PETA, who called for a boycott of the film. This eventually went viral on Twitter, and was picked up by many popular accounts. The trainers go on to criticize PETA for their excessively dramatized handling of animal “abuse,” because in this case, there was no animal abuse to be found.
The statement also reads that there was an American Humane Representative on duty at all times, as well as trainers, lifeguards and a safety diver.
In an article on USA Today, “A Dog’s Purpose” produce Gavin Polone is quoted to say that the dog in the video was computer-generated and cited the whole thing as “fake news.”
After reading everything, I believe the crew is professional enough to treat their animals correctly. A major film like this would not get through any type of approval process without making careful decisions about animal handling.
Maybe their handling of the tabloids is not the greatest, but I believe their handling of dogs to be adequate. The movie looks cute, and I still plan to see it. The movie comes out this Friday, Jan. 27.
