The movie, "A Dog’s Purpose," by the director of the beloved movie “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale,” Lasse Hallstrom, has a very serious accusation levied against it. A few weeks before the intended release date of the film, the excitatory news source, TMZ, released leaked footage of the shooting of the movie. The film supposedly shows a trainer forcing two-year-old German Shepherd Hercules into simulated rushing water as he attempts to escape. A trainer gets Hercules’ feet in and then gets the dog most of the way in and pulls him back out. This occurs while a man on the opposite side of the wave pool says “just gotta throw him in” among other similar things. The footage then cuts and shows Hercules’ head becoming submerged in the water and people yelling “cut!” The footage itself is shocking. The dog appears very resistant to entering the water and looks to be in danger at the end.

As horrible as it is to say, this is not the worst thing that has been done to a dog. Pet owners implement electric fences, a device that is meant to painfully shock a dog at least a few times, on a very wide scale. Dogs are often disciplined by being sprayed, hit with newspaper, or the like. When I was very young, my family had a trainer who had us implement a system of placing balloons where my dog would scratch which only traumatized it and made it fear balloons. Being forced to enter some warm water is not that bad when scaled against the common punishments that dogs unfortunately face. However, there is a larger issue at hand. That issue is that the abuse was for the purpose of art. To accept animal abuse because it is for the sake of art or film is unacceptable. There is no questioning that.

But did the abuse actually occur? What is known for certain is that the movie’s creators wanted Hercules in the water and he did enter the water. That is a filmed scene in the movie that I have witnessed. The main dog, Bailey, reincarnated as police dog Ellie, jumps into a rushing river to save a twelve-year-old girl. I can tell you for certain that Hercules did not seem distressed in that scene. The TMZ footage does not agree with this. There is an important inconsistency with the footage, though. The footage cuts out with Hercules being pulled back out of the water and then cuts to him being submerged. The organization in charge of assuring that “no animals were harmed in the making of this movie,” American Humane, launched an independent investigation that found that the footage was from two different shoots. This is according to a guest column on Variety.com with the CEO of American Humane, Dr. Robin Ganzert. It appears that the footage was definitely edited and framed to be more inflammatory.

The footage is just a short segment. According to the author of the book the movie is based on, William Bruce Cameron, there is footage from earlier in the day showing Hercules “Joyfully jumping into the pool.” Birds and Animals Unlimited, those responsible for supplying and training the featured animals in the movie, add in a letter to TMZ that Hercules had been “in training for months” for the scene and “was chosen for the film based on his love of the water.” CEO of American Humane Dr. Robin Ganzert states that after the footage in question “handlers immediately assisted the dog out of the water and placed him in a warming tent, where he received a medical examination that found no signs of stress. Eyewitnesses report that afterward, the dog wanted to go back into the water, but out of an abundance of caution, American Humane refused to allow the shooting of any additional scenes with the animal that day.”

With all of this evidence, it would seem that no matter what occurred, Hercules came out fine. Still, author W. Bruce Cameron states that “mistakes were made, and everything needs to be done to make sure those errors are not repeated.” Hercules was not forced to perform his stunt but he was dipped in the pool against his will at one point and immediately helped out. At a different point in filming his head became submerged. Birds and Animals Unlimited says that Hercules was immediately assisted out by trainers and a diver who had been in position in the pool. Hercules was safe and unharmed throughout the filming of the movie which, to me, clears its name and does not make it unethical to view. Peta might try to convince you otherwise, but they are known to be overly reactionary, as can be seen with their campaigns like “Pokemon Black and Blue” or their grotesque anti-wool protests.

"A Dog’s Purpose" was hit with an inflammatory campaign to portray it as poorly as possible. “If the people who shot and edited the video thought something was wrong, why did they wait fifteen months to do anything about it, instead of immediately going to the authorities?” says W. Bruce Cameron according to CNN. Sure, there were a few mistakes made but none that brought any physical or psychological harm to Hercules the stunt dog. I saw the completed film the Saturday after its release. It was a touching movie about a dog named Bailey pondering the purpose of his life as he lives multiple lives with multiple owners whom he helps along the way. It’s a story about the bond between humans and dogs and the selfless love they show us. It was well made and kept my eyes hydrated. The controversy surrounding the film simply does not carry enough weight. It should not prevent people from seeing this wonderful movie.

Sources:

TMZ footage: http://www.tmz.com/2017/01/18/a-dogs-purpose-germa...

CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/entertainment/a-dogs...

Variety.com guest column with CEO of American Humane:

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/a-dogs-purpose-v...

TMZ: Statement of Birds and Animals Unlimited on A Dog’s Purpose Videotapes:

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_documents...