Troubling video from Winnipeg movie set sparks animal rights complaint

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This article was published 18/01/2017 (3201 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

wfpyoutube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csLiYr5OGbg:wfpyoutube

An animal rights group has filed complaints of animal cruelty after a video surfaced Wednesday showing a German shepherd being forced into turbulent water on the Winnipeg movie set of A Dog’s Purpose.

Animal Justice, an Ottawa-based animal law organization, filed complaints with the Chief Veterinary Office of Manitoba, the Winnipeg Humane Society and Winnipeg police after the video was posted on the celebrity gossip site TMZ.

“The Chief Veterinarian now has the video and they’re reviewing it. I saw it on TMZ like everybody else and I was immediately appalled,” Camille Labchuk, executive director for Animal Justice, said in a phone interview from Ottawa. “I was especially disturbed to see it was filmed in Winnipeg. In Canada.”

The video shows the distressed dog struggling with a handler who finally manages to push the frightened animal into the a pool of churning water.

That’s followed by a second clip showing several crew members jumping in to rescue the animal as it struggles to keep its head above the water. The footage was apparently shot near Winnipeg when the film was in production in November of 2015.

In the first video clip, a man’s voice can be heard in the background saying, “Just got to throw him in,” and then chuckling “oh, no” as the dog is shoved into the pool.

“Throwing a German shepherd into rushing water is blatant animal cruelty,” Labchuk said in her news release. “It is illegal to inflict suffering and anxiety into animals and there is no loophole that lets Hollywood moviemakers get away with abusing animals on a film set.”

Set to open in theatres Jan. 27, A Dog’s Purpose is a major Hollywood production, directed by Lasse Hallström, who also directed The Cider House Rules, Dear John and The 100-Foot Journey, and it stars actor Dennis Quaid.

Based on W. Bruce Cameron’s 2010 bestseller of the same name, the movie is about a single dog as it is reincarnated over five decades and learns the meaning of its own existence through the humans who own it, especially its first owner, a small boy who first rescued it from suffering in a hot car.

The irony of the story line was highlighted in the TMZ post.

“One of the dogs in the upcoming film A Dog’s Purpose desperately resisted shooting a risky scene, but chilling footage shows filmmakers apparently forcing the animal into rushing water,” TMZ’s post said.

“We’re told director Lasse Hallström was present the whole time, and at least one member of the crew was extremely disturbed by the dog’s treatment during this scene,” the post said.

The Office of the Chief Veterinarian confirmed in a statement it received the complaint and is investigating.

“We are unable to provide further information at this time, however we do assess all reports made to the Animal Care Line. Generally speaking, it’s important for individuals who have first-hand information about an animal welfare issue to report it to our Animal Care Line as quickly as possible,” a provincial spokeswoman said.

It also said in the statement the province was initially told the film’s producers had hired the American Humane Association to be on the set and advocate on behalf of the animals, which is standard moviemaking practice.

The humane society said in a statement that it was consulted on the film but wasn’t present for the scenes posted on TMZ.

Society’s CEO Javier Schwersensky was pointedly critical but stopped short of calling the treatment cruel.

“This dog was fearful and not properly trained for this experience. As well, there was no safe exit point for the dog to escape the turbulent water,” she said in a statement.

Training for the scene should take weeks — if not months — in advance to help a dog get comfortable with not only being in water of that depth, but also the turbulence. “It also helps to ensure the dog will not suffer consequences from such a traumatic experience,” she said.

Winnipeg police said they are aware of the footage. A city spokesperson said the film production had all the right permits and that it is a matter for the province’s chief veterinarian.

Meanwhile, TMZ quotes Amblin Partners and Universal Pictures saying they take the ethical treatment of “our animal actors” as a matter of “utmost importance.” They’re looking into the circumstances around the video, they told TMZ.

A production publicist did not respond to a request for comment.

Camille Lapchuk hopes the province’s chief vet handles the complaint quickly.

“The movie is about to come out and it’s obviously in the public interest to know if there’s been cruelty committed in the filming so they can decide to go or not.”

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca