Discussions

Ahh TMZ. Anything to stir up controversy and make headlines. As Trump would say, they are fake news!

Geuss every person who has ever given a struggling cat a bath has committed animal abuse...

Meh, I don't find this animal abuse. During it, the trainer is trying to just get the dog in the water and you can see him still comforting the dog. If he hit the dog and threw him in, then I'd think differently.  
 
This reminded me of when I took my cousin swimming and she wanted to face her fear of the diving board. She got up there on the edge and then just froze. She wouldn't jump in, she wouldn't walk back off, she FREAKED if any of us tried to go get her. She was holding up the line and I had no idea what to do lol. After lots of encouragement and coaxing (like seriously 15-20 minutes!!!) I yelled at her to jump in. For whatever reason, she finally jumped after I yelled at her haha. Then she continued to do it time after time and was laughing and smiling. She even apologized for yelling at us!!! LOL. I don't think she even remembered that I yelled at her. It's now one of our favourite stories as we all act out the part of her....we're terrible, I know!! Haha.  
 
Sometimes we just need a "push" to face a fear. I guess what one views as abuse will differ greatly though

Enfyre said "Geuss every person who has ever given a struggling cat a bath has committed animal abuse... "

Or a baby throwing a temper tantrum. Too funny. I guess I abused ALL of my children by forcing them to get in the tub when they did not want to.

But this isn't just a bath, but a scene for a movie. I'm pretty sure there are people there on site from the ASPCA that watch all scenes where animals are used in movies. Did they say anything about that scene and how the dog didn't want to go in the water?  
 
But here's some clips of dogs that don't want a bath.  
 
 
 

every dog owner has been there a few times!

Ya but the water was turbulent and if you watch till the end it can't get its head out of water nearly drowned it. They had to rush to pull it out. The dog was scared to begin with and probably traumatized. But no one will bat an eye because it's "just a dog" the person filming it was even laughing at the the dogs fear. Yes dogs can have irrational fears like baths, thunderstorms etc.. but still posting dogs afraid of baths has nothing to do with this thread.

To me the out rage should be involving the end of the video when the dog disappears under water. But let's keep up the funny bathtub videos they are not even close to the same as this.

Vertstang said "To me the out rage should be involving the end of the video when the dog disappears under water. But let's keep up the funny bathtub videos they are not even close to the same as this. "

The dog went under. They had handlers in the pool with him. It's not like they just left him in there alone. And as soon as they saw him struggling they yelled cut and all went looking for him. If he was in there alone or they let it go longer, then maybe it could be something to make a big deal out of. But they didn't, they moved fast. And we don't know when the second part took place. It could've been way later than the first part, when the dog was calmed down and went in on its own accord.  
So if someone takes their dog to a beach and it goes under water (because things happen), are those dogs "abused"? In the first portion they never hit the dog or yelled or threw him in. I personally never saw any "abuse" in what TMZ "reported" in the video. Just my opinion.

the release of this video is going to hurt the show's attendance and profits. There are many who now say they absolutely will not go see the movie and I imagine many of them will stick to that.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/manitoba/animal-abuse-film-manitoba-1.3941970  
 
From the article:  
 
In a written statement, Winnipeg Humane Society CEO Javier Schwersensky said filmmakers consulted the Humane Society about two scenes in the film, BUT NOT THE ONE SHOWN IN THE FOOTAGE."  
 
"We understand there was an observer on the set of this film who was there to advocate on behalf of the dogs. All animals on a film set should have a qualified person who is there to protect their best interests," Schwersenky said in the statement.

If you enjoy watching animals in movies then you are going to have to come to grips that humans are the ones getting the animals to do what they do on screen. Animals are not actors! This German Shepard didn't want to get in the water. The director needed a shot and the dog needed to get in the water, end of story. I feel if the dog was beaten or left to drown then this video would have me outraged as well.

I hope the Chief Veterinary Office is on the case.  
 
No animal should suffer for our entertainment.

The observer from the American Humane Society who was in attendance has been suspended. In case anyone is wondering, this did not happen locally. Only part of the movie was filmed here, this scene was not one of them.

had to be forced into the bath water. They do need to be bathed once in a while.

Johnbisonbear said "had to be forced into the bath water. They do need to be bathed once in a while. "

think this a little more severe than forcing a dog into bath water?  
 
Interesting the responses in this thread. People are quite clearly very subjective!

 
 
Edited by Mauve, 2017-01-19 12:00:39

In my opinion. The producers, directors, trainer etc etc. Wouldn''t have picked a dog who was afraid of water to do this "stunt". I''m sure this dog was familiar with the move that needed to be performed. However, maybe he hadn''t done this move in front of this many people? Or had a off day?? I''m not to sure, there are to many variables to say and it''s a short clip! There was lots of people around so they would ensure his/her safety. And we don''t know the full story!  
 
I relate it to teaching my puppy how to walk down the stairs for the first time. Is he freaked out and scared? Yes. But we encourage him to learn to take that first step. Will he fall down a few steps the first few times? Probably. Actually sometimes he still does and he''s 3 years old now! Haha  
 
I'm going to end this opinion post by saying either boycott this movie, or go and watch the film, it's completely your own choice!  
 
Edited by Kuranda, 2017-01-19 12:08:08

Oryx said "    Johnbisonbear said "had to be forced into the bath water. They do need to be bathed once in a while. " think this a little more severe than forcing a dog into bath water?     Interesting the responses in this thread. People are quite clearly very subjective! "

makes me remember a dog we had that hated getting his nails cut. He would scream like a banshee and we would have to put a muzzle on him. Were we killing him? No, but he made it sound like we were!

JackAzz said "The observer from the American Humane Society who was in attendance has been suspended. In case anyone is wondering, this did not happen locally. Only part of the movie was filmed here, this scene was not one of them. "

Here is the link.  
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/animal-abuse-film-manitoba-dogs-purpose-1.3942731

since the movie was finished? Weird that all this is coming out just now.

http://www.tmz.com/2017/01/18/a-dogs-purpose-german-shepherd-is-okay-not-forced-to-film/  
 
Apparently TMZ has retracted the accusations.

Cee Jay 55 said "http://www.tmz.com/2017/01/18/a-dogs-purpose-german-shepherd-is-okay-not-forced-to-film/     Apparently TMZ has retracted the accusations. "

I kind of feel like that's saying just kidding after yelling fire in a crowded theatre.  
Damage is already done. I would love to see TMZ held to some sort of accountability with this.

Degenerate108 said "    Cee Jay 55 said "http://www.tmz.com/2017/01/18/a-dogs-purpose-german-shepherd-is-okay-not-forced-to-film/     Apparently TMZ has retracted the accusations. " I kind of feel like that's saying just kidding after yelling fire in a crowded theatre.   Damage is already done. I would love to see TMZ held to some sort of accountability with this. "

I am going to see this movie. I never believed the abuse B.S. to begin with. Too much fake stuff on the internet that people gobble up without thinking.

Cee Jay 55 said "http://www.tmz.com/2017/01/18/a-dogs-purpose-german-shepherd-is-okay-not-forced-to-film/     Apparently TMZ has retracted the accusations. "

Did you even read the link? TMZ are not "retracting" anything, just reporting on the producers saying the dog is fine. In fact, the latest development is that Chief Vet. office is investigating further and they weren't part of the filming because an american humane society rep was on location, who has since been suspended since this all broke.

Honestly the timing of this in relation to when the film wrapped and having this surface literally two weeks before the film debut coupled the edits in the footage released, screams PETA to me.  
 
There's a lot of circumstances that seem like someone purposely sat on this until it would do the most damage to the film itself.

I was thinking close to the same thing Degen.  
 
I was thinking more along the lines of exposure to the film (not the right words that i was looking for).  
 
Good or bad press about the movie will have people looking into the movie, what it is about, maybe go see it, bring sales in for the movie, etc.  
 
Timing of the video beong released to when it was taken is just off for me. This seems planned.

Johnbisonbear said "since the movie was finished? Weird that all this is coming out just now. "

Sounds like this took place 15 months ago. And conveniently being shown the week before it's released. I think someone has an agenda and wanting this movie to fail.  
 
And with how that video is cut, I'm sure we are only seeing a very small fragment of what actually happened.

allice said "    Cee Jay 55 said "http://www.tmz.com/2017/01/18/a-dogs-purpose-german-shepherd-is-okay-not-forced-to-film/     Apparently TMZ has retracted the accusations. " Did you even read the link? TMZ are not "retracting" anything, just reporting on the producers saying the dog is fine. In fact, the latest development is that Chief Vet. office is investigating further and they weren't part of the filming because an american humane society rep was on location, who has since been suspended since this all broke. "

I did read it. The video was actually two spliced together. The dog was never forced to get into the water, he got in on his own but went under once and the two guys were right there to prevent anything going wrong.  
 
TMZ first "broke" the story, now they are back-pedaling with this story they posted.