The Hollywood Reporter has a long, stunning investigative article out today called Animals Were Harmed.
THR journalist Gary Baum presents compelling evidence that the American Humane Association, the nonprofit organisation charged with monitoring film and TV productions for animal abuse, has systematically hidden animal deaths in the interest of preserving friendly relations with powerful Hollywood producers.
The deaths of three horses on the set of HBO’s horse racing series Luck-which was overseen by the AHA-are well known (and probably contributed to Luck’s cancellation), but the stomach-turning incidents go far beyond Luck:
There’s the dog that was punched by its trainer on the set of Eight Below, the chipmunk that was dropped and stepped on by its handler during the filming of Failure to Launch, and the dozens of sheep and goats that died during a hiatus in the filming of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
The AHA, which receives most of its funding from industry groups, excused these and other incidents by saying that they were unintentional, or that because they happened off-camera, they don’t count. Most of Baum’s sources are anonymous, but there are a few jaw-droppingly wrongheaded quotes, like this one:
In an interview with
