The statement concludes by saying, “Hercules is happy and healthy.” On the day of the shoot, Hercules did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot.” “There were several days of rehearsal of the water scenes to ensure Hercules was comfortable with all of the stunts. “While we continue to review the circumstances shown in the edited footage, 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,” it continued. And in the spirit of this relationship, the Amblin production team followed rigorous protocols to foster an ethical and safe environment for the animals,” the statement reads. “A Dog’s Purpose is a celebration of the special connection between humans and their dogs. In the statement, obtained by PEOPLE, the film’s production team, Amblin Entertainment, and distributor, Universal Pictures, defends its treatment of the animal actors.
#A DOGS PURPOSE GERMAN SHEPARD MOVIE#
You can see the video here on TMZ.Īs soon as the video came out, PETA released a statement saying: “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.” Producers of the film released a statement about the video: He was quickly overwhelmed by water and… yeah, I’m not even going to watch the video, it will make me too upset (the description alone is enough to make me teary). The dog didn’t want to go in the water and he was basically shoved in. TMZ got their hands on a video from the set of the film where it seems like the German shepherd was being forced into a risky stunt involving a manufactured “rushing river” situation.
But now I have another reason for not seeing it: apparently, no one was really looking out for the dog actors in the film. Like, I had to put my dog (my BFF and my roommate) down last year, so I already know that I’m not going to see the movie because I will cry too much. You know it’s the same dog-soul because every dog is voiced by Josh Gad. The film is about the same dog-soul who is reincarnated through the years into several dog bodies. If you’ve been to a movie theater in the past few months, chances are pretty good that you’ve seen the trailer for A Dog’s Purpose, a film starring Dennis Quaid and several adorable dogs.