Universal Pictures – 2017(LOS ANGELES) — Gavin Polone, a producer of A Dog’s Purpose, has spoken out about the now-infamous video taken on the film’s set that depicted a dog being pushed into turbulent water against its will. Polone, who’s also a columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, wrote an essay for the publication condemning the footage, but explaining the context in which it was taken.
Although he was not on set the day the German shepherd named Hercules was allegedly forced into the water, Polone wrote that he found the footage to be “absolutely inexcusable.”
“The dog trainer should have stopped trying to get the dog to go in the water as soon as the dog seemed uncomfortable, and the trainers should have had support under the dog as soon as he came to the side of the pool and/or had less turbulence in the water so he never would have gone under,” Polone wrote.
“The American Humane Association representative who is paid by the production to ‘ensure the safety and humane treatment of animal actors’….should have also intervened immediately on both of those parts of the filming,” he added. “So should have whomever was running the set. Those individuals should be held accountable and never used again by that studio or its affiliates.”
Polone said that Hercules was “spooked” because he’d rehearsed the scene from a different side of the pool, and added that when the position was returned to the original one, “The dog was comfortable and went in on his own.”
Polone also disagreed with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal’s call for a boycott. Lisa Lange, senior vice president at PETA, responded to Polone in a statement provided to ABC News.
“What matters is that…this dog made his feelings known, loud and clear, about being forced into rushing water…yet into the water he was made to go,” the statement said.
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