These two things are absolutely INEXCUSABLE and should NEVER have happened. “As with the TMZ video that you saw, two things were evident: 1) the dog handler tries to force the dog, for 35 to 40 seconds, into the water when, clearly, he didn’t want to go in and 2) in a separate take filmed sometime later, the dog did go into the water, on his own, and, at the end, his head is submerged for about 4 seconds. Seeing that distraught dog in the video did not comport with what I had observed in the prior weeks of production.”Īfter TMZ posted the video, Polone began his own investigation into the events, reaching out to Amblin Partners, the production company behind “A Dog’s Purpose” and screening all the footage shot on the day in question. Not once did I perceive any animal caused any discomfort or put in danger - and I am very aware what a distressed dog or cat is like. “I was on the set of the film for about 70 per cent of the 11-week production and witnessed the animal trainers, from a company called Birds and Animals Unlimited, handling the animals daily.
Though he was not on set the day the scene with the German Shepard was shot, Polone says he didn’t see any animal abuse on his time on the film’s set. So now, the idea that I’m connected to an accusation of the abuse of a dog is, to understate it, painful,” he writes.
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“I wanted to promote the feelings I developed for animals by making a meaningful movie about the same. It is his love of animals that drew him to “A Dog’s Purpose”. Polone goes on to describe how he is a vegan and champion of animal causes.
RELATED: ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ Star Josh Gad Comments On ‘Disturbing’ Video Of Terrified Dog: ‘I Am Shaken And Sad’ “Unlike you, the terrible feeling engendered by that video was heightened for me because I am the producer of that film and because much of my identity is fused with the belief that I am a lover and defender of animals and their welfare.” “Like you, I’m sure, I was appalled when I saw the video, shot on the set of ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ in Winnipeg in October 2015, of a dog trainer trying to coerce a frightened German Shepard into a pool,” he writes. Producer Gavin Polone – who is also a columnist for The Hollywood Reporter – explains “what really happened” on the film’s set and how he believes PETA is sensationalizing the leaked video. A producer of the family film “A Dog’s Purpose” is speaking out over the public outcry, detailing what he believes went wrong on the film’s set after a disturbing video of a terrified German Shepard being thrown into churning water was leaked online.