A video published by website TMZ claims to show leaked footage from 2017 movie “A Dog’s Purpose” that shows a dog handler pushing an evidently reluctant German Shepard into water.
A brief second clip at the end of the video apparently shows the dog’s head getting submerged underwater as animal handlers rush towards it. The footage can be seen below.
The footage was published by entertainment website TMZ on January 18th 2017, and has already caused a significant social media backlash against those involved with the movie. Both the UK and US Facebook pages for the film have been inundated with angry messages from many Facebook users, and the link to the TMZ webpage has gone viral across many social media platforms. Several groups have already initiated boycotts of the movie, and the movie’s IMDB page has also suffered – at the time of writing the movie has been given one of the lowest ratings a film can get; 1.1 stars out of 10.
While nothing has been confirmed as yet, the video does appear to show the filming of a scene involving rushing rapids that pops up in the official trailer at the 1:30 mark, as you can see below –
It has been reported that TMZ has received a statement from the movies production companies Amblin Partners and Universal Pictures who have watched the video. In a statement they said –
Fostering a safe environment and ensuring the ethical treatment of our animal actors was of the utmost importance to those involved in making this film, and we will look into the circumstances surrounding this video.
And while reports suggested director Lasse Hallstrom was on set during the incident, he has tweeted that he did not see the incident and has promised a thorough investigation –
TMZ have also reported the representative from the American Humane Association – the organisation responsible for the “No animals were harmed during the making of the film” disclaimer – has been suspended after the footage came to light.