WARNING: The video featured below features graphic footage.
Especially if you’re an animal lover.
Due to a video shared on TMZ yesterday, a company that specializes in training animals for movies and television is under major fire this week after its handlers were recorded forcing a frightened dog into cold, churning water on the set of this film.
The footage in question depicts a German Shepherd named Hercules being lowered into the water, despite making repeated attempts to climb out and/or get away.
After a man finally forces the canine into the gushing liquid, the dog appears to go under, at which point production staff members yell “CUT!” and handlers scramble to reach Hercules.
Again, consider yourself warned.
But watch the controversial video here:
TMZ alleges that director Lasse Hallström was present for this shooting, although Hallström wrote on Twitter that he was not on set at the time, promising a “thorough investigation” into what happened.
“I have been promised that a thorough investigation into this situation is underway and that any wrongdoing will be reported and punished,” he Tweeted.
A Dog’s Purpose is based on a book by the same name.
It chronicles the journey of a reincarnated pet whose consciousness is transferred to numerous dogs over the years, as he searches for the meaning of his life.
It stars Dennis Quaid, among others, and is scheduled to be released on January 27.
Following the leaking of this footage, however, calls to boycott the movie have come from animal rights group PETA, as well as from users of Twitter and Facebook.
Meanwhile, the IMDB rating for the movie was driven down to the lowest possible score.
Amblin Entertainment, the production company behind the film, has released a statement in defense of the movie, specifically what you see above.
It reads:
“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 goes on to say that Hercules had multiple days of rehearsal to become acclimatized to the set, but “on the day of the shoot, [he] did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot.”
The clip above was filmed in October of 2015.
The representative from the American Humane Association representative who was present during the filming has now been suspended in the wake of this scandal.
You can check out the official A Dog’s Purpose trailer below, with the scene featuring Hercules in the water taking place around the 1:20 mark:
Producer Gavin Polone actually worked on the movie, yet did not hold back in his criticism of this situation.
He told Deadline that it was the movie’s second unit who filmed the scene, of which he wasn’t a part.
But Polone was “horrified” by the footage.
“If I had seen that, I would have stopped it in a minute,” he told Deadline, adding:
“In the time I was on set, I never saw, in any way, the animal handlers stressing out the anima. I know the studio is outraged and investigating this.”
We should hope so.
Adds PETA:
“PETA is calling on dog lovers to boycott the film in order to send the message that dogs and other animals should be treated humanely, not as movie props.”
And here is actor Josh Gad’s statement on the incident.
He voices the dog in the movie:
