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UPDATE (November 26, 2012, 1:00 p.m. Eastern time): Following
PETA's release last week of disturbing whistleblower reports of 27 animal
deaths during the filming of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, we have asked authorities in New Zealand, where The
Hobbit was filmed, to investigate and pursue appropriate criminal charges
if warranted.
*****
UPDATE (November 20, 2012, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time): PETA responds
to Peter Jackson's statement: Five whistleblowers
reported more than two dozen animal deaths during the production of The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. They raised concerns not just once but
repeatedly to both the head wrangler and the head of production about the
unsafe housing conditions for animals and about Shanghai the horse, who was
hobbled (his legs reportedly tied together when he proved to be "too energetic"
for his rider). But their concerns were outright ignored.
With the exception of the hobbled horse, all claims of animal
injury and death are directly related to how the animals were housed and fed.
Jackson attempts to deflect these serious charges by talking about the use of
animals during action sequences—even though these damning incidents did not
take place when cameras were rolling. Two horses went over steep embankments
and died (one was found with her head submerged in water), a horse sustained a
severe injury after being put in with other horses despite known problems,
sheep broke their legs in sinkholes, and chickens were mauled by dogs—all
instances of extreme negligence. It seems to PETA that instead of vainly
defending himself, Jackson should be giving a firm assurance that this will
never happen again. He is the CGI master and has the ability to make the
animals and other interesting creatures in his movies 100 percent CGI, and PETA
calls on him again to do so.
*****
When The Hobbit is released in December,
audiences will see an adventure story set in a fantasy world. For the animals
involved in the filming, however, the abuse and neglect that they experienced
were far too real. Recently, PETA gave the Associated Press the exclusive on
the reported animal death toll. In all, five horses, a pony, and several
goats, sheep, and chickens were allegedly maimed or killed.
According to whistleblowers from The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey, the following occurred:
·
A horse named Shanghai was hobbled (his legs were tied together so
that he couldn't move) and left on the ground for three hours because he was
too energetic for his rider. Afterward, in order to hide his rope burns for
filming, his legs were covered with makeup and hair. Hobbling is an outright
violation of the American Humane Association's (AHA) guidelines.
·
One horse was killed and another horse was injured after being
placed with two highly strung geldings, despite concerns that the geldings
would be too aggressive.
·
Another horse was killed after falling off an embankment in a
severely crowded paddock.
·
When the horses were moved to the stables, another horse died
after being fed large amounts of food that he wasn't used to. The horse had
shown signs of colic, an extremely painful illness.
·
When the horses were moved back to the paddocks after this
incident, another horse had the skin and muscles of her leg torn away by wire
fencing.
·
Several goats and sheep died from worm infestations and from
falling into the sink holes that covered the farm.
·
Numerous chickens were mauled and killed by unsupervised dogs or
trampled by other animals when left unprotected.
How can something like this happen when the unit production
manager was warned and the production was monitored by the AHA?! Furthermore,
this movie was directed by Peter Jackson, a master at computer-generated
imagery (CGI). In a movie that features CGI dragons, ogres, and hobbits, CGI
animals would have fit in perfectly. Jackson could have made The Hobbit without
using a single animal—and he should have.
Send a message to filmmakers that hurting and
killing animals for a film is unacceptable and refuse to see movies that do.
Urge Peter Jackson to hold himself and his crew responsible when it comes to
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