“A Dog's Purpose” Star Josh Gad “Shaken” by Alleged Cruelty Video From Set

Universal Pictures – 2017(LOS ANGELES) — After TMZ obtained and posted a video allegedly taken on the set of A Dog’s Purpose, animal advocate group People for the Ethical Treatment of Anmials has called for a boycott of the movie — and now its star and director are speaking out, too. 

The movie, which hits theaters next week, details the relationship between dogs and their owners.

The video, which was released yesterday, appears to show a German shepherd named Hercules fighting his handler, who is trying to lower him into a pool of turbulent water for one of the film’s planned scenes.

“[The] footage shows a terrified dog who is forced into churning water on set,” PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange told ABC News in a statement. “PETA is calling on dog lovers to boycott the film in order to send the message that dogs and other animals should be treated humanely, not as movie props.”

The film’s producer, Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Entertainment, and the studio distributing the movie, Universal Pictures, told ABC News in a statement that the recording and the incident’s circumstances are being reviewed.

“Amblin is confident that great care and concern was shown for the German shepherd Hercules throughout the production of the film,” it read in part.

Amblin added that the scene in question was scrapped because the dog was not comfortable.

“Hercules is happy and healthy today,” the statement said in closing.

Actor Josh Gad, who is the voice of the dog in the film, issued a statement calling the video “disturbing.” In a long Twitter post, the actor wrote that he signed on to the movie because he saw it as “one of the most beautiful love letters to animals I have ever seen.”

“While I do not know all the details and cannot speak to the level of care and caution that went into this moment [in the video], I am shaken and sad to see any animal put in a situation against its will,” he continued. “I have reached out to the production team and studio to ask for an explanation for these disturbing images.”

The movie’s director, Lasse Hallstrom, a “lifelong animal lover,” also tweeted, stating in part, “I have been promised that a thorough investigation into this situation is underway and that any wrongdoing will be reported and punished.”

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