03-04-2017, 04:40 AM
Thanks for bringing up this topic. The controversy surrounding A Dog’s Purpose is undeserved. I recommend checking this article out for full coverage on the controversy, where it came from, and what the facts are: https://valoso.com/blog/dogs-purpose-video/
There are countless questionable aspects to this so-called “abuse” video. The article I mentioned earlier outlines them all in more detail, but I’ll just provide a quick overview here:
There are countless questionable aspects to this so-called “abuse” video. The article I mentioned earlier outlines them all in more detail, but I’ll just provide a quick overview here:
- The video is edited actually two clips edited into one. The edit completely warps the context of both clips. The first clip shows the nervous German Shepherd being coaxed into, but not entering, the pool. After the incident, investigators determined that the dog was never forced into the pool after it was coaxed to enter. The second, shows the German Shepherd after he had willingly entered the pool. Even the title of this controversial video, “German Shepherd forced into turbulent water,” is erroneous.
- The part where the dog’s head is submerged underwater was an accident. The media hyping up every mistake made by celebrities is nothing new. Nobody on the set of A Dog’s Purpose is denying that this was an accident; it never should have happened and nobody expected it to happen. Safety precautions were very obviously taken to protect the dog.
- The dog had done this stunt comfortably several times before. The reason why the dog was nervous to enter the pool in the first clip is not because he was unfamiliar with or afraid of the water stunt. Rather, this video shows the first time that the German Shepherd was attempting the stunt from the right side of the pool, when all of his previous rehearsals had been performed from the more familiar left side of the pool.
- The video was not released for almost a year and a half. Vice President of PETA stated, “PETA asks whether ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ was written from the heart or just to make a buck.” However, circumstances show that the controversial “abuse” video was the one created just to make money. This video was filmed in October of 2015 but released on January 2017. If the person who filmed the video was actually concerned for the safety of the dog, he would have released the video as soon as it was filmed. Instead, many people suspect it was sold to TMZ to disrupt the film’s release—and it did.
- Producer Gavin Palone is an animal lover. Sadly, his years of work struggling to adapt W. Bruce Cameron’s book into a movie have suffered all because of a video that distorts reality. Just read his testimony in the article yourself and determine whether or not his intentions as a film producer are true.
- It’s TMZ that released this video—not a reliable source. Just like thousands of other news sources, TMZ is known for taking advantage of the media to excite and shock viewers. This is not a bash on TMZ; however, any information from this source is simply not reliable, and this “abuse” video is no exception.
- There is no animal abuse shown in the video. Animal abuse is defined as “intentional infliction by humans of suffering or harm upon any non-human animal.” The German Shepherd in the video was never thrown into the water or abused in any other manner. With A Dog’s Purpose, American Humane Association affirms that “No animals were harmed in the making of this film.”
