Dog’s Purpose producer says video ‘misleading’

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This article was published 24/01/2017 (3195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ADog’s Purpose producer Gavin Polone has spoken out about the controversial video that shows alleged abuse of a German shepherd on the movie set, saying it “portrays an inaccurate picture of what happened” and blaming People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for promoting the “misleading” message.

Polone, an avowed animal lover, wrote Monday in The Hollywood Reporter that he took responsibility for not having a back-up watchdog plan for the “ineffective” American Humane Association, the standard guarantor of animal safety on sets.

He called for the AHA monitor — the set handler of a dog named Hercules who was coerced into a pool of rushing water in the video — and the unnamed person “running the set” to be “held accountable and never used again by that studio or its affiliates.”

The movie was shot in various locations in Manitoba, including Winnipeg, Brandon and Lockport, in the summer and fall of 2015.

The edited video that surfaced on the website TMZ on Wednesday shows the handler forcing the dog into the water and, later, the dog’s head submerging in the rushing water.

“These two things are absolutely inexcusable and should never have happened,” Polone wrote. “But, without excusing myself and others, there is more to this story that I think should be known.”

The international outcry over the video led PETA to call for a boycott of A Dog’s Purpose and resulted in the film’s Hollywood premiere being cancelled.

Like A Dog’s Purpose author W. Bruce Cameron, Polone said he viewed the entire footage from the set day in question and notes that Hercules balked about jumping in from a different side of the heated pool after rehearsal.

Polone took aim at PETA for focusing on the video to promote an agenda calling for the removal of all animals from film.

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“Not only have they been circulating the TMZ video, which portrays an inaccurate picture of what happened, but they have included a clip from our trailer where you see the dog jumping into a treacherous rushing wall of water,” Polone wrote.

“But that isn’t a real dog, it is a computer-generated dog leaping into the water. Isn’t that the definition of ‘fake news?’ ”

Animal Justice, an Ottawa-based animal law organization, on Wednesday filed complaints with the Chief Veterinary Office of Manitoba, the Winnipeg Humane Society and Winnipeg police.

Manitoba’s CVO has confirmed it is investigating the allegations.

— USA Today, with staff files