I considered updating this morning’s denial issued by Peter Jackson. Had I done that, though, those that read the previous post might not return for the update so I felt a whole new post was in order.
First for the short of it, a group of animal wranglers place the production company at fault for the deaths of up to 27 animals, alleging the New Zealand ranch near Wellington where the animals were kept included bluffs, sinkholes and a variety of “death traps” that resulted in injuries to the animals and/or their death.
While a spokesman for Jackson was quoted in the original report, Jackson and his fellow Hobbit filmmakers issued the following statement (via THR):
The producers of The Hobbit take the welfare of all animals very seriously and have always pursued the highest standard of care for animals in their charge. Any incidents that occurred that were brought to their attention as regards to this care were immediately investigated and appropriate action taken. This includes hundreds of thousands of dollars that were spent on upgrading housing and stable facilities in early 2011.
The producers completely reject the accusations that twenty seven animals died due to mistreatment during the making of the films. Extraordinary measures were taken to make sure that animals were not used during action sequences or any other sequence that might create undue stress for the animals involved. Over fifty five per cent of all shots using animals in The Hobbit are in fact computer generated; this includes horses, ponies, rabbits, hedgehogs, birds, deer, elk, mice, wild boars, and wolves.
The American Humane Association (AHA) was on hand to monitor all use of animals by the production. No animals died or were harmed on set during filming.
We regret that some of these accusations by wranglers who were dismissed from the film over a year ago are only now being brought to our attention. We are currently investigating these new allegations and are attempting to speak with all parties involved to establish the truth.
Now where I have a big problem with the wording of this statement is primarily in two places. First where it says, “The producers completely reject the accusations that twenty seven animals died due to mistreatment during the making of the films. Extraordinary measures were taken to make sure that animals were not used during action sequences or any other sequence that might create undue stress for the animals involved.”
Problem is, none of the accusations said animals were harmed while making the movie, but while being held at the Wellington ranch. They go on to say, “No animals died or were harmed on set during filming.” Again, no one said during filming.
It’s even worse when they say, “We are currently investigating these new allegations and are attempting to speak with all parties involved to establish the truth.” Which is to essentially say they aren’t even commenting on the issues raised by the accusations as they have not even investigated them, which means all the statement is doing is blowing a lot of hot air.
I’m willing to give Jackson and his team a chance to make a statement, but to paint the people making the accusations as “wranglers who were dismissed from the film over a year ago” without even addressing their accusations is a bit of dirty pool if you ask me. Of course, I still question the timing of it all as this did happen a long time ago and the motivations of waiting until the film’s release to bring all this to light is equally questionable.
As previously stated, PETA plans to picket the upcoming December release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
