27 Animals Die During Filming Of Hobbit Trilogy ***WARNING - GRAPHIC***
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.
To read the rest of the incidents and what can be done in the future, you can click here to go to PETA. What I agree with PETA about is that with all the CGI and everything that can be done with computers it would seem like the risks for animals should be lessened and not increased and there is no way such a significant number of animals should be killed. Think about what happened on HBO's Luck and how fast that was shut down even with just a fraction of the number of deaths.
I'm sure it wasnt done on purpose.......but yowsa. Poor animals.
ReplyDeletePETA kills animals too..google it!
ReplyDeleteTotally beside the point. Animals died and were injured. THAT is the point.
DeletePoor animals. But I always wonder if PETA is telling the truth or not. They lie like rugs.
ReplyDeleteSadly i read first about this on Deadline and it seems legit.
ReplyDeleteThose poor animals, and for a shit movie to boot.
ReplyDeleteDon't most movies that use animals have someone on set to ensure safety? I know many will feature "No animals were hurt in the filming for this movie" in the credits. Though I realize that it could be just to save face with the public.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad story. I'm not an animal lover per se, but I don't want them to be hurt, either.
Is hobbling an outright violation of NZs humane association guidelines? That's where they're filming, right?
ReplyDeleteFor 3 hours? God, I'd hope so.
DeleteRefuse to see this movie on principal. In this day and age it is f##king ridiclous that so many animals could be injured or killed for our entertainment. Like seriously what the f##k. Beyond disgusted.
ReplyDeleteI call bullshit on this!! Its PETA trying to get press! And its working!
ReplyDeleteWTF. How difficult is it to have trained professionals look after these animals?
ReplyDeleteThis kind of stuff boils my blood.
apparently none of these things happened while actually filming, but at the farm where the animals were being kept. so it all was kosher i guess by whatever standards the humane society has because it didn't happen on set. and then the article threw in a random fact about how Peter Jackson adopted three pigs used in the movie. OKAY. yes, that makes all that sad death ok!
ReplyDeleteCondsidrring how well they treated tge animals in the last movie I doubt it.
ReplyDelete*the
DeleteI dunno, read this: http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/peter-jackson-posts-on-facebook-page-defense-by-the-hobbit-production-team-against-animal-cruelty-allegations/
ReplyDeleteWww.ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/73608186.html#cutid1
ReplyDeleteHow does a GELDING that highly-strung where it's a danger to other horses get used in movies? Its not like there's a shortage of horses in the world. And a horse that needs to be hobbled for 3 hours before it can be ridden? Where are they finding these animals, the 7th circle of hell?
ReplyDeleteThese deaths happened on the farm where the animals were kept when not filming. Most of the deaths occurred in the beginning and were due to holes and such in the ground and the stupidity of the animals - which is not really an excuse. Supposedly the wranglers contacted the production co about this and it was fixed. I've been reading the wranglers reports and there was nothing about hobbling. I don't think Jackson himself became aware of it til after the fact - considering how the actors and he love animals (they adopted many after LOTR) I can't blame Jackson.
ReplyDeleteI doubt horses are that much dumber in NZ than they are here. I squarely blame whoever picked this hole-y, cliff-riddled farm and it's caretakers.
DeleteThis isn't about PETA. And frankly, whether or not PETA kills animals is entirely beside the point. The point is that animals died because of the deplorable care they were receiving. NBC was reporting this yesterday after hearing from an animal wrangler who quit because of the conditions the animals were kept in. The AHA has certified the movie but even they admit that they only certify based on what they observe on the set, not what happens where the animals are housed.
ReplyDeleteBoycott
ReplyDeleteNot being a horse person, I always thought they were pretty smart, but on the Gawker story many commenters were sharing stupid horse stories. I don't know what to believe at this point.
ReplyDeleteObviously animal protection on movies needs to extend to there they are kept, which the AHA has no control over. That does need to change. No animal should die because of a stupid movie.
They're not stupid, they're just shitty at self-preservation. I can see where someone who witnesses a barn fire and sees the horses standing in it frozen in panic would think they're dumb, though. Their natural reaction to scary things is sheer panic, since they are prey animals. I had an Arab once who thought my lap was the safest place to be in event of danger. He could also pick any lock and untie any rope and his joy in life was turning himself around in the trailer somehow and riding with his head out the back of the trailer. Not stupid, just no common sense.
Deleteno animal is stupid. they just need to be trained and taught with patience. i can't stand people who call animals stupid. thumbs up gemtwist!
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ReplyDelete+1 GenTwist. Horses are like dogs. They can be taught simple tricks but you have to treat them like they are 3 year old.
ReplyDeleteVery much like dogs! I always tell people that, too!
DeleteBut how smart/dumb a horse is or isn't doesn't absolve anyone from being cruel to any animal.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what exactly happened here, but I do know one thing. I don't trust PETA. They're just a little to attention seeking for me.
ReplyDeleteI refuse to believe the care of the animals used was so extremely bad. No sensible owner would ever want to work with PJ again. They would rather have their animals back and not a compensation for the loss.
Most of the time movie animals are owned by a business. They don't give as much of a shit as an average owner would. Probably because they didn't buy the animal out of love and can easily acquire a replacement. This is why even rare animals like tigers and elephants are abused by circuses. It's all about $$$.
DeleteHighstrung geldings? AND an intact colt with THEM? An intact horse should never be with any other horse....
ReplyDeleteI'm so confused by this too. Two geldings so 'aggressive' another horse was killed? I...just...huh?
DeleteInteresting how the death of some animals (horses) freak people out while the deaths of a much larger number of other kinds of animals (whatever they ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner while shooting the movie) don't count. FYI, I'm not a vegetarian but I do not support the mistreatment of animals (whether they are pets or end up as food).
ReplyDeleteHow do you know what everyone's eating? Personally I've been veg since '07.
DeleteI think they do. You'll have difficulty convincing large groups of people to be vegetarian, for example, but I have never found people adverse to Higher Welfare standards or anti-cruelty legislation. Once people are informed, I've always found them caring.
DeleteExcept for complete assholes, and frankly, that doesn't surprise me!
Mr T, I wonder that too. Everytime I see the "no animal has been injured or killed" disclaimer after a movie, I think of the scenes in which the actors ate meat, or wore leather or fur. It should say that. "Except for food and clothing, no animal was injured or killed in the making of this movie." I'm a literal person, and the disclaimer may as well be accurate. I know I will never convince the world to quit eating and wearing animals, and I don't try (the only decisions I control are my own), but it should be acknowledged truthfully.
DeleteThat's not an easy decision for most, really. It's a hassle, frankly, but I feel great about it. I don't judge others for not making the same life choice, but i get sick of this straw man argument about, 'well, these people crying about cruelty probably wear leather and ate a burger so WHY SHOULD I GIVE A SHIT?!?' A society should be judged by how it treats its lower life forms, right? Someone smart said that I think... ;)
DeleteSomething about this story doesn't seem right. I'm reserving comment until there is more intel on the he said/she said allegations. And as much as I appreciate the work that Peta does to raise awareness about animals being treated humanely they have dubious credibility with me for all their wild stories that are greatly exaggerated.
ReplyDeleteI'm juts betting that many, if not most, of the people working on the movie aren't vegetarians. Even if 75% were vegetarians, the carnivorous 25% surely ate more than 27 animals during the 16 months of principal photography, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteThey probably wiped their butts with a lot of tp during that time, too. Doesn't mean they're all pro-deforestation.
DeleteMr t, i eat animals but i dont beat my pets! One does not equal the other. Ill tell u the number one reason people arent vegan- its too much trouble!! And thats the sad truth.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you that think this is about PETA, I urge you to research this story around the internet. The AHA eventually went out of its jurisdiction because the stories about the treatment of these animals were horrific. Animals freezing to death, ending up with broken backs, being eaten by other animals...the stories were first reported by the animal wranglers working on the production, NOT PETA. In light of what happened, the AHA is lobbying to get jurisdiction over all aspects of the animals used in film and television.
ReplyDeleteBTW, you can get meat that is from animals that have been raised, and slaughtered humanely. If you live in any moderately sized city it's not that hard.
This is NOT about PETA and it kind of pisses me off that people are totally willing to discount the suffering of animals used for our entertainment because they may be peripherally involved. They may suck most of the time, but occasionally, they have a point.
This isn't all about PETA but this isn't about things that happened on every other filmset in history either. I don't like PETA and distrust every story they publish. As far as I'm concerned they are more publicity hungry than Paris Hilton. And I find it hard to believe someone like Viggo Mortensen would willingly work with a group of people who would treat any animal badly (if they did it this time, they did it last time) so I'll give PJ's team the benefit of the doubt. Especially when I read that the two who made these claims were fired for not treating animals properly. Besides I would like to know more about how these animals died and wether it really was human error or just bad luck.
ReplyDeleteThen try actually reading the article maybe? PETA isn't who 'published' this story and there are a lot of detail into how and which animals died.
Delete@noetje...you clearly didn't read the entire statement by Jackson and his spokesperson.
DeleteI read the article and several more. I also read this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/11/20/65507-a-statement-from-peter-jackson-and-the-producers-of-the-hobbit-about-animal-mistreatment-allegations/?fb_source=pubv1
Oh, fan site! Probably totally impartial and chock full of actually journalism. Thanks for doing your research on page 5 of Google.
Deletehttp://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/49887709/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/t/hobbit-animals-died-unsafe-farm-wranglers-say/
ReplyDeleteIf you read what Jackson said, he only says no animals died during "the MAKING" of the films. Jacksons spokesperson conceded that animals died at the facility where the animals were housed.
There. Not PETA. Jackson's own spokesperson. SMFH.
Dude. I had no idea the damn Hobbit had Brangeloonie-esque fans until today.
DeleteSeriously.
DeleteI think it's also because it is easier for people to believe PETA is lying than believe that was happening.
DeleteI have no doubt the production crew was responsible. It's all about the mighty buck! I don't think Jackson would have let that happen if he knew.
ReplyDeleteAs for Brangeloonies re Tolkien, oh yeah my friend is like that, I'm going to see with her on opening day. She's been on pins and needles for a year, total geek.
Why wasn't my comment posted??
ReplyDeleteAnyway... I don't deny animals died or were hurt while on the Wellington farm (see I did read it ;-) ) but I do question the extremes PETA mentions here. These two men were fired a year ago. PETA heard about this months ago. Why now??
Second (and I'm sure some of you won't like this), where people work accidents happen. Both with people as with animals (plenty of people have been killed or hurt on site or off). In hindsight some of these accidents might have been prevented. That however does not mean people working on that team did not care for the animals nor does it mean they were cruel.
I grew up with animals and one of our roosters died of a heart attack while being cornered by three geese (he was a bit of a hothead). We probably could have prevented it but that does not make us cruel.
Err, sorry about your rooster, but it's absolutely nothing like what happened to these animals. Do you know someone working on this farm or something? 20+ animals dying is NOT 'whoops!'. It is negligent as all hell.
DeleteAgain, this is not about PETA. I could give a fuck about PETA's take on all of this.
DeleteAnd yes. One rooster. Not 125+ animals in a few months period. The wrangler was fired after constantly complaining to the production team and another refused to be named because she was afraid of being blackballed. It IS cruelty when you allow inhumane conditions (which result in EITHER intentional or unintentional accidents or death) to persist.
But it is easier to rationalize and deny. It is what we as humans do when reality is at odds with our worldview.
And by the way, I don't blame Jackson, for the animal deaths. Apparently, after he was alerted, conditions were improved. I do, however, blame him for trying to pretend it didn't happen by styling his words just so because he is well aware that fans, like you, will take away exactly the message you did.
Dur...25+...not 125+
DeleteI have no intention of boycotting the movie. If intentional abuse was committed... IF... then the offsite animal wranglers are responsible, and it seems clear to me that when the production staff became aware of it, they took measures against further injury. I am suspicious of PETA's timing, and their motivation (as I usually am--the stories I have seen on the high rate of euthanizing the 'unadoptable' dogs and cats in their shelters has left me VERY cold to them).
ReplyDeleteSeriously, read Peter Jackson's statement.
I dislike any kind of animal cruelty and animals being treated inhumanely. I have also heard that this happened where they were housed and whoever was responsible for this should be held in contempt for animal cruelty, especially if it was "hidden" and if the allegations are true.
ReplyDeleteThere is always more to the story.
I am glad we have laws about this now and have wondered about the old westerns and what was done with the horses back then.
Again. It depends on how they died. And no I don't. I'm not denying the fact that some of these deaths could have been prevented. I however do believe the "sub contractor" (if that is the right word for it) is responsible not the production team. That means the owners of the farm and the people working there. It has ben said before that every time the production team were notified of accidents or deaths they tried to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteI do believe however PJ and his team may have been negligent in one thing. Apparently there were known problems with this farm. If that is true they should never have gone into business with them or at least break off the contract after the first or even second accident.
And I still think it's suspicious this story is released know and not when it happened.
The production team and movie studio are responsible for who works on the movie. Everyone who works on a movie. The animal people didn't just appear one day. They were hired. They answered to the production team.
DeleteYou're so hung up on 'how they died'. This is not a Peter Jackson witch hunt or a PETA rally, ok? You say you grew up around animals, surely you grasp that THAT MANY deaths in such a short time means someone dropped the ball. Before I got into dog rescue, I worked at a horse rescue. If we had that many deaths from other horse attacks (which is blowing my mind) or broken bones, we would been shut the f down. Like after 4 or 5 deaths...out of business. Horses are fragile, and they succumb to a lot of seemingly stupid illnesses. But there were also sheep and goats that died and THEY are hardy as all hell. Something stinks to high heaven here and if PETA were totally making all this up, I'd expect way way wayyyy more vehement denials from everyone involved.
DeleteAs a horseperson I will say this: if you have a horse die of colic untreated, you committed criminal abuse. The rest sounds like a lot of piss-poor judgment. They deserve to get blasted and won't get a dime of my family's money.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying no one dropped the ball and I'm not saying nothing happened. But for some reason I can see your point but you completely fail to see mine. You don't even see a smidgen of my point.
ReplyDeletePJ and his team might be liable for any claims people might want to make (if there are claims made) but that does not mean they themselves are guilty of any crimes against animals. It has been said before these allegations occurd on the farm by the people who worked there and the owners. As far as I can see the only thing the production team are guilty of is negligence. They should ot have continued working with this farm.
The second problem I have with this problem is that I'm not convinced every death could have been prevented. Some of these animals fell into sinkholes or were hurt in rabbit holes. That can happen on flat land. Not much land in NZ is flat and sink holes can't always be seen.
The third problem I have with this story is that the people who read about this and instantly give a sort of "of-with-their-heads" comment without even so much as trying to find out more. Newsoutlets only copy from each other without doing any research for themselves and I'm fairly certain the only "proof" PETA has are the claims of 4 wranglers 2 of whom were fired for delivering bad work.
This is my last comment here since I feel this is turning into namecalling instead of actual debate. This is my opinion and you are free not to like it.
Ps: I'm not a Peter Jackson fan. LotR is the only one of his films I've ever seen. Even though I'm guilty of having an autograph. I was at the Lovely Bones premiere in Wellington a few years ago.
Honey, I am not going to be name-calling, really. And I'm not placing the blame on anyone but those who were directly responsible for caring for those animals. Yes, maybe a couple of those animals died accidentally. I'll give you 5 accidental deaths. I guess that's conceivable. This many though...no way. I just want someone held accountable and for things to change, for good, for how animals used in entertainment are cared for. Putting animals in harms way, or denying them adequate care or treating them as if they have no feelings, those are things that make me sick and they're immoral. Someone needs to answer for this shit. I'm sorry you feel attacked, seriously. This topic is just something I feel very, very strongly about.
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