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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 117
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 217
ldquoLAST WEEK WE ALMOSTFmdashING KILLED KING IN THE
WATER TANKrdquo
A merican Humane Association monitor Gina Johnson confided in an email to a
colleague on April 7 2011 about the star tiger in Ang Leersquos Life of Pi While many
scenes featuring ldquoRichard Parkerrdquo the Bengal tiger who shares a lifeboat with a boy lost at
sea were created using CGI technology King very much a real animal was employed when
the digital version wouldnrsquot suffice ldquoThis one take with him just went really bad and he got lost
trying to swim to the siderdquo Johnson wrote ldquoDamn near drownedrdquo
Kingrsquos trainer eventually snagged him with a catch rope and dragged him to one side of the
tank where he scrambled out to safety
ldquoI think this goes without saying but DONrsquoT MENTION IT TO ANYONE ESPECIALLY THE
OFFICErdquo Johnson continued in the email obtained by The Hollywood Reporter ldquoI have
downplayed the fmdash out of itrdquo
As a representative of the American Humane Association mdash the grantor of the familiar ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo trademark accreditation seen at the end of film and TV credits mdash it
was Johnsonrsquos job to monitor the welfare of the animals used in the production filmed in
Taiwan Whatrsquos more Johnson had a secret She was intimately involved with a high-ranking
production exec on Pi (AHArsquos management subsequently became aware of both the
relationship and her email about the tiger incident which others involved with the production
have described in far less dire terms) Still Pi which went on to earn four Oscars and $609
million in global box office was awarded the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
A year later during the filming of another blockbuster Peter
Jacksonrsquos The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey 27 animals
reportedly perished including sheep and goats that died from
dehydration and exhaustion or from drowning in water-filled
gullies during a hiatus in filming at an unmonitored New Zealand
farm where they were being housed and trained A trainer John
Smythe tells THR that AHArsquos management which assigned a
representative to the production resisted investigating when he
brought the issue to its attention in August 2012 First according
to an email Smythe shared with THR an AHA official told him the
lack of physical evidence would make it difficult to investigate
When he replied that he had buried the animals himself and
knew their location the official then told him that because the
deaths had taken place during the hiatus the AHA had no
jurisdiction The AHA eventually bestowed a carefully worded
credit that noted it ldquomonitored all of the significant animal action
No animals were harmed during such actionrdquo
A THR investigation has found that unbeknownst to the public
these incidents on Hollywoodrsquos most prominent productions are
but two of the troubling cases of animal injury and death that
directly call into question the 136-year-old Washington DC-
based nonprofitrsquos assertion that ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo on
productions it monitors Alarmingly it turns out that audiences
reassured by the organizationrsquos famous disclaimer should not
HBO canceled its series Luck a day after Real
Aw esome Jet sustained head injuries that w ere too
severe to be treated
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 317
necessarily assume it is true In fact the AHA has awarded its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit to films and TV shows on
which animals were injured during production It justifies this on
the grounds that the animals werenrsquot intentionally harmed or the
incidents occurred while cameras werenrsquot rolling
ldquoItrsquos fascinating and ironic From being the protectors of
animals theyrsquove become complicit to animal crueltyrdquo says Bob
Ferber a veteran LA City Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor who
founded and supervised its Animal Protection Unit until retiring
in March
Ferber is not surprised by the allegation that the AHA is failing
to adequately monitor many productions When he attempted in
2005 to investigate two horse deaths during production of Foxrsquos
Flicka (based on the beloved childrenrsquos novel) he says the
AHArsquos Film amp TV Unit management insisted the deaths on the
sets in the Simi and San Fernando valleys were unpreventable
accidents When he dispatched LA Animal Control officers to
talk to the AHA ldquoThey told animal control to fmdash themselvesrdquo he
says ldquoThis is worse than doing nothing This is like a cop not
just ignoring a crime but helping cover it uprdquo
The end credit AHA ultimately bestowed on Flicka reads
without elaboration ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored
the animal actionrdquo
The full scope of animal injuries and deaths in entertainment productions cannot be known
But in multiple cases examined by THR the AHA has not lived up to its professed role as
stalwart defenders of animals mdash who unlike their human counterparts didnrsquot themselves sign
up for such work While the four horse deaths on HBOrsquos Luck made headlines last year there
are many extraordinary incidents that never bubble up to make news
A Husky dog was punched repeatedly in its diaphragm on Disneyrsquos 2006 Antarctic sledding
movie Eight Below starring Paul Walker and a chipmunk was fatally squashed in
Paramountrsquos 2006 Matthew McConaughey-Sarah Jessica Parker romantic comedy Failure to
Launch In 2003 the AHA chose not to publicly speak of the dozens of dead fish and squid that
washed up on shore over four days during the filming of Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean
The Curse of the Black Pearl Crewmembers had taken no precautions to protect marine life
when they set off special-effects explosions in the ocean according to the AHA rep on set
And the list goes on An elderly giraffe died on Sonyrsquos 2011 Zookeeper set and dogs suffering
from bloat and cancer died during the production of New Regencyrsquos Marmaduke and The
Weinstein Corsquos Our Idiot Brother respectively (an AHA spokesman confirms the dogs had
bloat and says the cancer ldquowas not work-relatedrdquo) In March a 5-foot-long shark died after
being placed in a small inflatable pool during a Kmart commercial shoot in Van Nuys
All of these productions had AHA monitors on set
ldquoThe trainer beat the dogharshly which included fivepunches to its diaphragmrdquo
Notes from an American Humane
Association monitor on Disneyrsquos
Eight Below The film was given the
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end
credit Force was necessary to
break up a dog fight the AHA says
today
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 417
These employees allege and available AHA internal evidence
supports their claims that the organization distorts its film
ratings downplays or fails to publicly acknowledge harmful
incidents and sometimes doesnrsquot seriously pursue
investigations The AHA staffers agreed to speak because they
say they have lost hope in the potential for meaningful reform
unless outside pressure is brought to bear (They all have
insisted on maintaining their anonymity for fear of retribution)
ADVERTISEMENT
Although AHA employees tell THR there was reason to suspect
that negligence played some role mdash if the scene had been set up
differently they say Glass and other horses likely would not have
been in a position to be injured in an accident mdash the AHA did not
A horse named Glass wasfatally impaled on a
Once a distinctly outsider entity which had to fight for its right to independently
monitor productions in the first place today the AHA has transformed itself into an
entrenched industry insider The organization undeniably has improved the care
and safety of animals used in Hollywood But interviews with six AHA employees and an
extensive review of internal AHA documents including incident logs emails meeting minutes
audit assessments and more strongly suggest that the organizationrsquos fundamental work mdash
protecting animals through credibly neutral on-set oversight mdash today is inadequate
More recently the organization mdash whose other nationwide animal efforts range from rescue
and shelter services following large-scale disasters to a cage-free certification program for
meat poultry egg and dairy producers mdash has faced conflicts of interest stemming from its
desire to be a part of the industry itrsquos meant to regulate
Exhibit A On Oct 1 2011 the Hallmark Channel premiered Loversquos Everlasting Courage a TV
movie about pioneer-era America that was monitored by the AHA That same evening the AHA
presented its inaugural Hero Dog Awards attended by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg Betty
White and Hayden Panettiere at the Beverly Hilton Hallmark subsequently broadcast the Hero
Dog Awards gala just as itrsquos done each year since It was a natural fit mdash after all the
networkrsquos head Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott sat on the AHArsquos Film amp TV Unit advisory board
(he would join the AHArsquos full national board just after the 2011 Hero Dog Awards event)
The symbiotic relationship between the two organizations is important in light of an incident
that occurred June 9 2010 during the filming of Courage That day a horse named Glass mdash
known for his gentle demeanor one blue eye and a distinctive white blaze of mane set against
a shimmering black coat mdash was fatally injured when a ldquorunawayrdquo wagon really did lose control
and the carriagersquos crossbar broke (think of a pencil snapping) impaling the animalrsquos left
hindquarter ldquoHe then went into shock from extreme blood loss and the vet decided it would be
more humane to euthanize him than allow him to sufferrdquo according to an internal AHA report
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 517
investigate According to an AHA statement given to THR the
driver didnrsquot lose control and an investigation wasnrsquot necessary
ldquoWe were present witnessed the entire day of shooting and had
the veterinary report hellip It was a miscalculation not an act of
negligencerdquo (The film did not receive an AHA end credit but that
is not unusual for a television production)
Abbott in an interview with THR adds ldquoWe looked at it and
found that we had a clear conscience hellip We donrsquot think an
outside investigation would have revealed anything differentlyrdquo
As to whether his close relationship with the AHA creates a
conflict of interest he says ldquoI can understand how that would
raise an eyebrow But itrsquos almost like when a coach has a son on
the team and that coach is more difficult on that son than other
peoplerdquo
Hallmark Channel moviemonitored by the American
Humane AssociationNegligence may have been a
factor yet no probe waslaunched
At the time network CEO Bill Abbott
sat on the AHArsquos advisory board He
says ldquoWe donrsquot think an outside
investigation would have revealed
anything differentlyrdquo
Top
Charges of improper coziness between the AHA and the entertainment business
have been raised before The arrangement by which the Film amp TV Unitrsquos budget
has been mostly financed mdash through what is currently a $24 thinspmillion grant
administered by two trade groups the recently merged SAG-AFTRA actorsrsquo union and the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers via its shared Industry Advancement and
Cooperative Fund mdash long has been criticized for the inherent conflict of interest present in
Hollywood bankrolling its regulator (The IACF is endowed as part of the producersrsquo obligation
to the actorsrsquo union)
ldquoWas it a close call What isindisputable was that no
harm came to King Could
you argue he had a momentBut he continued to workrdquo
This unique compact in which a nonprofit has taken on the role
of a regulator of industry in lieu of more traditional government
oversight mdash and therefore is not subject to public disclosure
laws allowing its work to mostly remain shrouded in secrecy
mdash means the AHA is accountable only to Hollywood itself (For
more on the AHA and the IACF see sidebar)
Dr S Kwane Stewart a veterinarian who took over as the
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 617
Dr S Kwane Stewart head of the
AHArsquos monitoring program in
reference to an incident involving a
tiger on Foxrsquos Life of Pi
national director of the AHArsquos ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo
program in April defends the arrangement ldquoThis whole idea
that wersquore cozy with the industry mdash itrsquos simply not the caserdquo he
tells THR ldquoWe first and foremost want to keep the animals
saferdquo Nevertheless he adds ldquowe need to keep in mind that
[the producers and directors of productions the AHA monitors]
want to arrive at their vision as wellrdquo For example he says
consider the unique challenges posed by working with horses
ldquoThese are huge animals with blazing speed on stilts If you
want to avoid incidents keep them in the stables entirelyrdquo
In fact it was after the deaths of four horses during the
production of HBOrsquos now-canceled horse-racing drama series
Luck in 2010-2012 that new complaints from animal-rights
activists and on-set whistle-blowers emerged about the
effectiveness of the AHA and its often close relationship to the
industry (see sidebar for the full story on what happened on
Luck)
In January Barbara Casey the Studio City-based Film amp TV
Unitrsquos former head of production sued the AHA HBO and
Stewart Productions (not affiliated with Dr Stewart) in LA
Superior Court for wrongful termination stemming from the
fallout over the horse deaths She alleges that she was
informed of ongoing mistreatment of animals on the Luck set
and aggressively advocated for safer conduct which held up
the production schedule As a result Luckrsquos makers ldquoexercised
their political muscle and influence with AHArdquo she says and
her employer subsequently fired her under pressure
Casey alleges that her dismissal is part of a larger pattern in
which the organization ldquokowtowsrdquo to the industry a claim
echoed by AHA employees to whom THR has spoken In her
court filings Casey enumerates repeated incidents of
appeasement and collusion These range from the death of a
cow on HBOrsquos Temple Grandin and the incident involving King
the tiger on Life of Pi to the 27 animal fatalities during the
production of The Hobbit
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ONHBOrsquoS lsquoLUCKrsquo ndash AND WHY
NOBODY WAS HELDACCOUNTABLE
Almost from the start of production in 2010
HBOrsquos horse-racing drama Luck was plagued
by allegations that its horses often were elderly
broken-down underfed and potentially even
drugged HBO strenuously defended its safety
protocols but four thoroughbred horses died
during production THRrsquos investigation drawing
on internal information obtained from AHA
sources found that not only may the horse
deaths have been avoidable but the true equine
damage was more extensive than originally
thought ndash and because two subsequent
investigations appear to have been botched no
one was held accountable
Read More gt
Casey also alleges in her filing that ldquoin order to protect Steven Spielberg one of the most
notable and influential persons in the history of film and because of the volume of press and
other publicity this film garnered AHA agreed to cover up the death of [a] horse [on War
Horse] and to give the 2011 film its lsquoNo Animals Were Harmedrsquo end creditrdquo
ldquoThey told animal control tofmdash themselves This is worsethan doing nothing This is
like a cop not just ignoring acrime but helping cover it
uprdquo
Bob Ferber retired LA City
Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor of the
AHA during his attempted 2005
investigation of horse deaths on
Foxrsquos Flicka
In its response to Caseyrsquos allegations the AHA says ldquoWe
absolutely and categorically deny the sensationalist
inflammatory misleading and untrue allegationsrdquo It adds ldquoWe
look forward to vigorously defending ourselves through the
proper legal channelsrdquo A hearing in the case is scheduled for
March 2014
An HBO spokeswoman declined to answer questions about
Luck referring THR to previously issued statements including
ldquoFrom the very outset of the project the safety of the animals
was of paramount concern to us Assertions of lax attitudes or
negligence could not be further from the truthrdquo
LUCK GUSMANO CESARETTHBO
Luck horses ran on the Santa Anita Park racetrack
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 717
Top
Animal cruelty has been a fact of life on productions since the inception of
Hollywood (Nearly 100 horses died during the shooting of 1959rsquos Ben-Hur alone)
Action-adventure films and Westerns were known to treat animals harshly in their
attempts to attain verisimilitude long before the advent of CGI As early as 1939 after a horse
was forced onto a slippery platform tilted to ensure it would plummet 70 feet off a cliff to its
death during the shooting of Jesse James the Hays Office typically busy with other forms of
morality policing invited the AHA (not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United
States) to be present on sets
Photo taken of a horse named Glass on the set of the Hallmark Channel movie Loversquos Resounding Courage shortly after
the animal w as impaled in an accident He w as soon euthanized
In 1980 following public outcry over animal mistreatment on Heavenrsquos Gate which practiced a
ghastly form of gritty realism that included real cockfights and disemboweled cows that
arrangement was more formally ratified by a clause in the collective bargaining agreement
between the actorsrsquo guild and the producersrsquo association (AHA monitors were barred at
gunpoint from the Heavenrsquos Gate set in Montanarsquos Glacier National Park)
The organization subsequently was authorized to review scripts and show up on any SAG set
at any time Perhaps more important its monitors who are licensed as law enforcement
officers could write citations and even mdash solely within the state of California mdash make arrests
Notably neither power has been exercised in the AHArsquos Hollywood history which spans at
least 35000 productions since 1980
The AHA is quick to point out in the widely circulated
ldquoProtecting Your Ass From Harmrdquo AHA industry pamphlet
about its work that the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
serves as an effective shield against potentially damaging
PR attacks from animal rights groups mdash the AHA positions
itself as the far more moderate bulwark to People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals which believes CGI should
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 817
entirely replace real animals mdash as well as being a now-
necessary disclaimer required by many distributors and
networks prior to release or airing
The AHArsquos jurisdiction is broad but far from complete American productions working outside a
union agreement or shooting internationally are charged a contractual fee of $80 per hour for a
monitor not including travel expenses But according to internal AHA Film amp TV Unit advisory
board meeting minutes from 2010 reviewed by THR many productions simply decline to
participate
Meanwhile only about 50 percent of animal action is monitored domestically according to Film
amp TV Unit senior adviser Karen Rosa The gap is due to a variety of factors from nonunion
productions that opt out to late notifications distant locations fluctuating shooting schedules
and inexperienced crewmembers who either donrsquot know or mdash in certain cases mdash donrsquot want to
ask for monitoring in the first place In addition because of the increase in movie and television
production in recent years the AHA sometimes doesnrsquot have enough safety representatives to
handle requested coverage resulting in brief visits by monitors or even none at all
ldquoReps get sent to multiple sets in a day which means we can check off a set as lsquocoveredrsquo
even though we only stayed there for five minutesrdquo says one staffer who notes that limited
personnel resources are allocated toward the riskiest scenes ldquoI feel that more and more this
is done not to make sure we at least see the trainers and animals and make sure that itrsquos not a
horrible situation but rather to keep the numbers up and make it look like we are monitoring
more than we actually arerdquo
The AHA frequently touts a 9998 percent safety rating mdash
meaning almost 100 percent of the animals they monitor are
not harmed But the AHArsquos internal critics insist the number is
farcical with no real statistical grounding They claim the
aggregate overall ratio is purposefully inflated by the inclusion of
high volumes of impossible-to-count insects mdash ldquoThink of days
where yoursquore using say 10000 worms 10000 cockroaches
50000 ants 25000 beetlesrdquo explains one employee mdash while
the number of injuries or deaths is undercounted because the
organization doesnrsquot account for those that occur while an
animal is in transit or at a holding facility (as opposed to
specifically on set) Adds a colleague ldquoItrsquos a total BS number
made up for PR purposesrdquo
In response Rosa says that the score is based on an
estimated number of animals monitored by the organization
over five years versus the number of known incidents ldquoI did it
by incident not necessarily by number of animals So when
you say insects well I did count fish helliprdquo she says ldquoWe do
about 100000 animals a year mdash and thatrsquos low because
sometimes therersquos a herd of cattle and a flock of birds So we
can only estimaterdquo
On Disneyrsquos The Chroniclesof Narnia Prince Caspian
horses were repeatedlypulled for injuries ndash internalAHA notes from a single day
show that 14 were out ofcommission at once Yet itreceived the No Animals
Were Harmed creditbecause the organizationnow explains none of the
injuries were serious or dueto ldquointentional harmrdquo
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 217
ldquoLAST WEEK WE ALMOSTFmdashING KILLED KING IN THE
WATER TANKrdquo
A merican Humane Association monitor Gina Johnson confided in an email to a
colleague on April 7 2011 about the star tiger in Ang Leersquos Life of Pi While many
scenes featuring ldquoRichard Parkerrdquo the Bengal tiger who shares a lifeboat with a boy lost at
sea were created using CGI technology King very much a real animal was employed when
the digital version wouldnrsquot suffice ldquoThis one take with him just went really bad and he got lost
trying to swim to the siderdquo Johnson wrote ldquoDamn near drownedrdquo
Kingrsquos trainer eventually snagged him with a catch rope and dragged him to one side of the
tank where he scrambled out to safety
ldquoI think this goes without saying but DONrsquoT MENTION IT TO ANYONE ESPECIALLY THE
OFFICErdquo Johnson continued in the email obtained by The Hollywood Reporter ldquoI have
downplayed the fmdash out of itrdquo
As a representative of the American Humane Association mdash the grantor of the familiar ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo trademark accreditation seen at the end of film and TV credits mdash it
was Johnsonrsquos job to monitor the welfare of the animals used in the production filmed in
Taiwan Whatrsquos more Johnson had a secret She was intimately involved with a high-ranking
production exec on Pi (AHArsquos management subsequently became aware of both the
relationship and her email about the tiger incident which others involved with the production
have described in far less dire terms) Still Pi which went on to earn four Oscars and $609
million in global box office was awarded the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
A year later during the filming of another blockbuster Peter
Jacksonrsquos The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey 27 animals
reportedly perished including sheep and goats that died from
dehydration and exhaustion or from drowning in water-filled
gullies during a hiatus in filming at an unmonitored New Zealand
farm where they were being housed and trained A trainer John
Smythe tells THR that AHArsquos management which assigned a
representative to the production resisted investigating when he
brought the issue to its attention in August 2012 First according
to an email Smythe shared with THR an AHA official told him the
lack of physical evidence would make it difficult to investigate
When he replied that he had buried the animals himself and
knew their location the official then told him that because the
deaths had taken place during the hiatus the AHA had no
jurisdiction The AHA eventually bestowed a carefully worded
credit that noted it ldquomonitored all of the significant animal action
No animals were harmed during such actionrdquo
A THR investigation has found that unbeknownst to the public
these incidents on Hollywoodrsquos most prominent productions are
but two of the troubling cases of animal injury and death that
directly call into question the 136-year-old Washington DC-
based nonprofitrsquos assertion that ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo on
productions it monitors Alarmingly it turns out that audiences
reassured by the organizationrsquos famous disclaimer should not
HBO canceled its series Luck a day after Real
Aw esome Jet sustained head injuries that w ere too
severe to be treated
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 317
necessarily assume it is true In fact the AHA has awarded its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit to films and TV shows on
which animals were injured during production It justifies this on
the grounds that the animals werenrsquot intentionally harmed or the
incidents occurred while cameras werenrsquot rolling
ldquoItrsquos fascinating and ironic From being the protectors of
animals theyrsquove become complicit to animal crueltyrdquo says Bob
Ferber a veteran LA City Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor who
founded and supervised its Animal Protection Unit until retiring
in March
Ferber is not surprised by the allegation that the AHA is failing
to adequately monitor many productions When he attempted in
2005 to investigate two horse deaths during production of Foxrsquos
Flicka (based on the beloved childrenrsquos novel) he says the
AHArsquos Film amp TV Unit management insisted the deaths on the
sets in the Simi and San Fernando valleys were unpreventable
accidents When he dispatched LA Animal Control officers to
talk to the AHA ldquoThey told animal control to fmdash themselvesrdquo he
says ldquoThis is worse than doing nothing This is like a cop not
just ignoring a crime but helping cover it uprdquo
The end credit AHA ultimately bestowed on Flicka reads
without elaboration ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored
the animal actionrdquo
The full scope of animal injuries and deaths in entertainment productions cannot be known
But in multiple cases examined by THR the AHA has not lived up to its professed role as
stalwart defenders of animals mdash who unlike their human counterparts didnrsquot themselves sign
up for such work While the four horse deaths on HBOrsquos Luck made headlines last year there
are many extraordinary incidents that never bubble up to make news
A Husky dog was punched repeatedly in its diaphragm on Disneyrsquos 2006 Antarctic sledding
movie Eight Below starring Paul Walker and a chipmunk was fatally squashed in
Paramountrsquos 2006 Matthew McConaughey-Sarah Jessica Parker romantic comedy Failure to
Launch In 2003 the AHA chose not to publicly speak of the dozens of dead fish and squid that
washed up on shore over four days during the filming of Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean
The Curse of the Black Pearl Crewmembers had taken no precautions to protect marine life
when they set off special-effects explosions in the ocean according to the AHA rep on set
And the list goes on An elderly giraffe died on Sonyrsquos 2011 Zookeeper set and dogs suffering
from bloat and cancer died during the production of New Regencyrsquos Marmaduke and The
Weinstein Corsquos Our Idiot Brother respectively (an AHA spokesman confirms the dogs had
bloat and says the cancer ldquowas not work-relatedrdquo) In March a 5-foot-long shark died after
being placed in a small inflatable pool during a Kmart commercial shoot in Van Nuys
All of these productions had AHA monitors on set
ldquoThe trainer beat the dogharshly which included fivepunches to its diaphragmrdquo
Notes from an American Humane
Association monitor on Disneyrsquos
Eight Below The film was given the
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end
credit Force was necessary to
break up a dog fight the AHA says
today
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 417
These employees allege and available AHA internal evidence
supports their claims that the organization distorts its film
ratings downplays or fails to publicly acknowledge harmful
incidents and sometimes doesnrsquot seriously pursue
investigations The AHA staffers agreed to speak because they
say they have lost hope in the potential for meaningful reform
unless outside pressure is brought to bear (They all have
insisted on maintaining their anonymity for fear of retribution)
ADVERTISEMENT
Although AHA employees tell THR there was reason to suspect
that negligence played some role mdash if the scene had been set up
differently they say Glass and other horses likely would not have
been in a position to be injured in an accident mdash the AHA did not
A horse named Glass wasfatally impaled on a
Once a distinctly outsider entity which had to fight for its right to independently
monitor productions in the first place today the AHA has transformed itself into an
entrenched industry insider The organization undeniably has improved the care
and safety of animals used in Hollywood But interviews with six AHA employees and an
extensive review of internal AHA documents including incident logs emails meeting minutes
audit assessments and more strongly suggest that the organizationrsquos fundamental work mdash
protecting animals through credibly neutral on-set oversight mdash today is inadequate
More recently the organization mdash whose other nationwide animal efforts range from rescue
and shelter services following large-scale disasters to a cage-free certification program for
meat poultry egg and dairy producers mdash has faced conflicts of interest stemming from its
desire to be a part of the industry itrsquos meant to regulate
Exhibit A On Oct 1 2011 the Hallmark Channel premiered Loversquos Everlasting Courage a TV
movie about pioneer-era America that was monitored by the AHA That same evening the AHA
presented its inaugural Hero Dog Awards attended by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg Betty
White and Hayden Panettiere at the Beverly Hilton Hallmark subsequently broadcast the Hero
Dog Awards gala just as itrsquos done each year since It was a natural fit mdash after all the
networkrsquos head Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott sat on the AHArsquos Film amp TV Unit advisory board
(he would join the AHArsquos full national board just after the 2011 Hero Dog Awards event)
The symbiotic relationship between the two organizations is important in light of an incident
that occurred June 9 2010 during the filming of Courage That day a horse named Glass mdash
known for his gentle demeanor one blue eye and a distinctive white blaze of mane set against
a shimmering black coat mdash was fatally injured when a ldquorunawayrdquo wagon really did lose control
and the carriagersquos crossbar broke (think of a pencil snapping) impaling the animalrsquos left
hindquarter ldquoHe then went into shock from extreme blood loss and the vet decided it would be
more humane to euthanize him than allow him to sufferrdquo according to an internal AHA report
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 517
investigate According to an AHA statement given to THR the
driver didnrsquot lose control and an investigation wasnrsquot necessary
ldquoWe were present witnessed the entire day of shooting and had
the veterinary report hellip It was a miscalculation not an act of
negligencerdquo (The film did not receive an AHA end credit but that
is not unusual for a television production)
Abbott in an interview with THR adds ldquoWe looked at it and
found that we had a clear conscience hellip We donrsquot think an
outside investigation would have revealed anything differentlyrdquo
As to whether his close relationship with the AHA creates a
conflict of interest he says ldquoI can understand how that would
raise an eyebrow But itrsquos almost like when a coach has a son on
the team and that coach is more difficult on that son than other
peoplerdquo
Hallmark Channel moviemonitored by the American
Humane AssociationNegligence may have been a
factor yet no probe waslaunched
At the time network CEO Bill Abbott
sat on the AHArsquos advisory board He
says ldquoWe donrsquot think an outside
investigation would have revealed
anything differentlyrdquo
Top
Charges of improper coziness between the AHA and the entertainment business
have been raised before The arrangement by which the Film amp TV Unitrsquos budget
has been mostly financed mdash through what is currently a $24 thinspmillion grant
administered by two trade groups the recently merged SAG-AFTRA actorsrsquo union and the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers via its shared Industry Advancement and
Cooperative Fund mdash long has been criticized for the inherent conflict of interest present in
Hollywood bankrolling its regulator (The IACF is endowed as part of the producersrsquo obligation
to the actorsrsquo union)
ldquoWas it a close call What isindisputable was that no
harm came to King Could
you argue he had a momentBut he continued to workrdquo
This unique compact in which a nonprofit has taken on the role
of a regulator of industry in lieu of more traditional government
oversight mdash and therefore is not subject to public disclosure
laws allowing its work to mostly remain shrouded in secrecy
mdash means the AHA is accountable only to Hollywood itself (For
more on the AHA and the IACF see sidebar)
Dr S Kwane Stewart a veterinarian who took over as the
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 617
Dr S Kwane Stewart head of the
AHArsquos monitoring program in
reference to an incident involving a
tiger on Foxrsquos Life of Pi
national director of the AHArsquos ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo
program in April defends the arrangement ldquoThis whole idea
that wersquore cozy with the industry mdash itrsquos simply not the caserdquo he
tells THR ldquoWe first and foremost want to keep the animals
saferdquo Nevertheless he adds ldquowe need to keep in mind that
[the producers and directors of productions the AHA monitors]
want to arrive at their vision as wellrdquo For example he says
consider the unique challenges posed by working with horses
ldquoThese are huge animals with blazing speed on stilts If you
want to avoid incidents keep them in the stables entirelyrdquo
In fact it was after the deaths of four horses during the
production of HBOrsquos now-canceled horse-racing drama series
Luck in 2010-2012 that new complaints from animal-rights
activists and on-set whistle-blowers emerged about the
effectiveness of the AHA and its often close relationship to the
industry (see sidebar for the full story on what happened on
Luck)
In January Barbara Casey the Studio City-based Film amp TV
Unitrsquos former head of production sued the AHA HBO and
Stewart Productions (not affiliated with Dr Stewart) in LA
Superior Court for wrongful termination stemming from the
fallout over the horse deaths She alleges that she was
informed of ongoing mistreatment of animals on the Luck set
and aggressively advocated for safer conduct which held up
the production schedule As a result Luckrsquos makers ldquoexercised
their political muscle and influence with AHArdquo she says and
her employer subsequently fired her under pressure
Casey alleges that her dismissal is part of a larger pattern in
which the organization ldquokowtowsrdquo to the industry a claim
echoed by AHA employees to whom THR has spoken In her
court filings Casey enumerates repeated incidents of
appeasement and collusion These range from the death of a
cow on HBOrsquos Temple Grandin and the incident involving King
the tiger on Life of Pi to the 27 animal fatalities during the
production of The Hobbit
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ONHBOrsquoS lsquoLUCKrsquo ndash AND WHY
NOBODY WAS HELDACCOUNTABLE
Almost from the start of production in 2010
HBOrsquos horse-racing drama Luck was plagued
by allegations that its horses often were elderly
broken-down underfed and potentially even
drugged HBO strenuously defended its safety
protocols but four thoroughbred horses died
during production THRrsquos investigation drawing
on internal information obtained from AHA
sources found that not only may the horse
deaths have been avoidable but the true equine
damage was more extensive than originally
thought ndash and because two subsequent
investigations appear to have been botched no
one was held accountable
Read More gt
Casey also alleges in her filing that ldquoin order to protect Steven Spielberg one of the most
notable and influential persons in the history of film and because of the volume of press and
other publicity this film garnered AHA agreed to cover up the death of [a] horse [on War
Horse] and to give the 2011 film its lsquoNo Animals Were Harmedrsquo end creditrdquo
ldquoThey told animal control tofmdash themselves This is worsethan doing nothing This is
like a cop not just ignoring acrime but helping cover it
uprdquo
Bob Ferber retired LA City
Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor of the
AHA during his attempted 2005
investigation of horse deaths on
Foxrsquos Flicka
In its response to Caseyrsquos allegations the AHA says ldquoWe
absolutely and categorically deny the sensationalist
inflammatory misleading and untrue allegationsrdquo It adds ldquoWe
look forward to vigorously defending ourselves through the
proper legal channelsrdquo A hearing in the case is scheduled for
March 2014
An HBO spokeswoman declined to answer questions about
Luck referring THR to previously issued statements including
ldquoFrom the very outset of the project the safety of the animals
was of paramount concern to us Assertions of lax attitudes or
negligence could not be further from the truthrdquo
LUCK GUSMANO CESARETTHBO
Luck horses ran on the Santa Anita Park racetrack
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 717
Top
Animal cruelty has been a fact of life on productions since the inception of
Hollywood (Nearly 100 horses died during the shooting of 1959rsquos Ben-Hur alone)
Action-adventure films and Westerns were known to treat animals harshly in their
attempts to attain verisimilitude long before the advent of CGI As early as 1939 after a horse
was forced onto a slippery platform tilted to ensure it would plummet 70 feet off a cliff to its
death during the shooting of Jesse James the Hays Office typically busy with other forms of
morality policing invited the AHA (not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United
States) to be present on sets
Photo taken of a horse named Glass on the set of the Hallmark Channel movie Loversquos Resounding Courage shortly after
the animal w as impaled in an accident He w as soon euthanized
In 1980 following public outcry over animal mistreatment on Heavenrsquos Gate which practiced a
ghastly form of gritty realism that included real cockfights and disemboweled cows that
arrangement was more formally ratified by a clause in the collective bargaining agreement
between the actorsrsquo guild and the producersrsquo association (AHA monitors were barred at
gunpoint from the Heavenrsquos Gate set in Montanarsquos Glacier National Park)
The organization subsequently was authorized to review scripts and show up on any SAG set
at any time Perhaps more important its monitors who are licensed as law enforcement
officers could write citations and even mdash solely within the state of California mdash make arrests
Notably neither power has been exercised in the AHArsquos Hollywood history which spans at
least 35000 productions since 1980
The AHA is quick to point out in the widely circulated
ldquoProtecting Your Ass From Harmrdquo AHA industry pamphlet
about its work that the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
serves as an effective shield against potentially damaging
PR attacks from animal rights groups mdash the AHA positions
itself as the far more moderate bulwark to People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals which believes CGI should
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 817
entirely replace real animals mdash as well as being a now-
necessary disclaimer required by many distributors and
networks prior to release or airing
The AHArsquos jurisdiction is broad but far from complete American productions working outside a
union agreement or shooting internationally are charged a contractual fee of $80 per hour for a
monitor not including travel expenses But according to internal AHA Film amp TV Unit advisory
board meeting minutes from 2010 reviewed by THR many productions simply decline to
participate
Meanwhile only about 50 percent of animal action is monitored domestically according to Film
amp TV Unit senior adviser Karen Rosa The gap is due to a variety of factors from nonunion
productions that opt out to late notifications distant locations fluctuating shooting schedules
and inexperienced crewmembers who either donrsquot know or mdash in certain cases mdash donrsquot want to
ask for monitoring in the first place In addition because of the increase in movie and television
production in recent years the AHA sometimes doesnrsquot have enough safety representatives to
handle requested coverage resulting in brief visits by monitors or even none at all
ldquoReps get sent to multiple sets in a day which means we can check off a set as lsquocoveredrsquo
even though we only stayed there for five minutesrdquo says one staffer who notes that limited
personnel resources are allocated toward the riskiest scenes ldquoI feel that more and more this
is done not to make sure we at least see the trainers and animals and make sure that itrsquos not a
horrible situation but rather to keep the numbers up and make it look like we are monitoring
more than we actually arerdquo
The AHA frequently touts a 9998 percent safety rating mdash
meaning almost 100 percent of the animals they monitor are
not harmed But the AHArsquos internal critics insist the number is
farcical with no real statistical grounding They claim the
aggregate overall ratio is purposefully inflated by the inclusion of
high volumes of impossible-to-count insects mdash ldquoThink of days
where yoursquore using say 10000 worms 10000 cockroaches
50000 ants 25000 beetlesrdquo explains one employee mdash while
the number of injuries or deaths is undercounted because the
organization doesnrsquot account for those that occur while an
animal is in transit or at a holding facility (as opposed to
specifically on set) Adds a colleague ldquoItrsquos a total BS number
made up for PR purposesrdquo
In response Rosa says that the score is based on an
estimated number of animals monitored by the organization
over five years versus the number of known incidents ldquoI did it
by incident not necessarily by number of animals So when
you say insects well I did count fish helliprdquo she says ldquoWe do
about 100000 animals a year mdash and thatrsquos low because
sometimes therersquos a herd of cattle and a flock of birds So we
can only estimaterdquo
On Disneyrsquos The Chroniclesof Narnia Prince Caspian
horses were repeatedlypulled for injuries ndash internalAHA notes from a single day
show that 14 were out ofcommission at once Yet itreceived the No Animals
Were Harmed creditbecause the organizationnow explains none of the
injuries were serious or dueto ldquointentional harmrdquo
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 317
necessarily assume it is true In fact the AHA has awarded its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit to films and TV shows on
which animals were injured during production It justifies this on
the grounds that the animals werenrsquot intentionally harmed or the
incidents occurred while cameras werenrsquot rolling
ldquoItrsquos fascinating and ironic From being the protectors of
animals theyrsquove become complicit to animal crueltyrdquo says Bob
Ferber a veteran LA City Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor who
founded and supervised its Animal Protection Unit until retiring
in March
Ferber is not surprised by the allegation that the AHA is failing
to adequately monitor many productions When he attempted in
2005 to investigate two horse deaths during production of Foxrsquos
Flicka (based on the beloved childrenrsquos novel) he says the
AHArsquos Film amp TV Unit management insisted the deaths on the
sets in the Simi and San Fernando valleys were unpreventable
accidents When he dispatched LA Animal Control officers to
talk to the AHA ldquoThey told animal control to fmdash themselvesrdquo he
says ldquoThis is worse than doing nothing This is like a cop not
just ignoring a crime but helping cover it uprdquo
The end credit AHA ultimately bestowed on Flicka reads
without elaboration ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored
the animal actionrdquo
The full scope of animal injuries and deaths in entertainment productions cannot be known
But in multiple cases examined by THR the AHA has not lived up to its professed role as
stalwart defenders of animals mdash who unlike their human counterparts didnrsquot themselves sign
up for such work While the four horse deaths on HBOrsquos Luck made headlines last year there
are many extraordinary incidents that never bubble up to make news
A Husky dog was punched repeatedly in its diaphragm on Disneyrsquos 2006 Antarctic sledding
movie Eight Below starring Paul Walker and a chipmunk was fatally squashed in
Paramountrsquos 2006 Matthew McConaughey-Sarah Jessica Parker romantic comedy Failure to
Launch In 2003 the AHA chose not to publicly speak of the dozens of dead fish and squid that
washed up on shore over four days during the filming of Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean
The Curse of the Black Pearl Crewmembers had taken no precautions to protect marine life
when they set off special-effects explosions in the ocean according to the AHA rep on set
And the list goes on An elderly giraffe died on Sonyrsquos 2011 Zookeeper set and dogs suffering
from bloat and cancer died during the production of New Regencyrsquos Marmaduke and The
Weinstein Corsquos Our Idiot Brother respectively (an AHA spokesman confirms the dogs had
bloat and says the cancer ldquowas not work-relatedrdquo) In March a 5-foot-long shark died after
being placed in a small inflatable pool during a Kmart commercial shoot in Van Nuys
All of these productions had AHA monitors on set
ldquoThe trainer beat the dogharshly which included fivepunches to its diaphragmrdquo
Notes from an American Humane
Association monitor on Disneyrsquos
Eight Below The film was given the
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end
credit Force was necessary to
break up a dog fight the AHA says
today
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 417
These employees allege and available AHA internal evidence
supports their claims that the organization distorts its film
ratings downplays or fails to publicly acknowledge harmful
incidents and sometimes doesnrsquot seriously pursue
investigations The AHA staffers agreed to speak because they
say they have lost hope in the potential for meaningful reform
unless outside pressure is brought to bear (They all have
insisted on maintaining their anonymity for fear of retribution)
ADVERTISEMENT
Although AHA employees tell THR there was reason to suspect
that negligence played some role mdash if the scene had been set up
differently they say Glass and other horses likely would not have
been in a position to be injured in an accident mdash the AHA did not
A horse named Glass wasfatally impaled on a
Once a distinctly outsider entity which had to fight for its right to independently
monitor productions in the first place today the AHA has transformed itself into an
entrenched industry insider The organization undeniably has improved the care
and safety of animals used in Hollywood But interviews with six AHA employees and an
extensive review of internal AHA documents including incident logs emails meeting minutes
audit assessments and more strongly suggest that the organizationrsquos fundamental work mdash
protecting animals through credibly neutral on-set oversight mdash today is inadequate
More recently the organization mdash whose other nationwide animal efforts range from rescue
and shelter services following large-scale disasters to a cage-free certification program for
meat poultry egg and dairy producers mdash has faced conflicts of interest stemming from its
desire to be a part of the industry itrsquos meant to regulate
Exhibit A On Oct 1 2011 the Hallmark Channel premiered Loversquos Everlasting Courage a TV
movie about pioneer-era America that was monitored by the AHA That same evening the AHA
presented its inaugural Hero Dog Awards attended by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg Betty
White and Hayden Panettiere at the Beverly Hilton Hallmark subsequently broadcast the Hero
Dog Awards gala just as itrsquos done each year since It was a natural fit mdash after all the
networkrsquos head Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott sat on the AHArsquos Film amp TV Unit advisory board
(he would join the AHArsquos full national board just after the 2011 Hero Dog Awards event)
The symbiotic relationship between the two organizations is important in light of an incident
that occurred June 9 2010 during the filming of Courage That day a horse named Glass mdash
known for his gentle demeanor one blue eye and a distinctive white blaze of mane set against
a shimmering black coat mdash was fatally injured when a ldquorunawayrdquo wagon really did lose control
and the carriagersquos crossbar broke (think of a pencil snapping) impaling the animalrsquos left
hindquarter ldquoHe then went into shock from extreme blood loss and the vet decided it would be
more humane to euthanize him than allow him to sufferrdquo according to an internal AHA report
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 517
investigate According to an AHA statement given to THR the
driver didnrsquot lose control and an investigation wasnrsquot necessary
ldquoWe were present witnessed the entire day of shooting and had
the veterinary report hellip It was a miscalculation not an act of
negligencerdquo (The film did not receive an AHA end credit but that
is not unusual for a television production)
Abbott in an interview with THR adds ldquoWe looked at it and
found that we had a clear conscience hellip We donrsquot think an
outside investigation would have revealed anything differentlyrdquo
As to whether his close relationship with the AHA creates a
conflict of interest he says ldquoI can understand how that would
raise an eyebrow But itrsquos almost like when a coach has a son on
the team and that coach is more difficult on that son than other
peoplerdquo
Hallmark Channel moviemonitored by the American
Humane AssociationNegligence may have been a
factor yet no probe waslaunched
At the time network CEO Bill Abbott
sat on the AHArsquos advisory board He
says ldquoWe donrsquot think an outside
investigation would have revealed
anything differentlyrdquo
Top
Charges of improper coziness between the AHA and the entertainment business
have been raised before The arrangement by which the Film amp TV Unitrsquos budget
has been mostly financed mdash through what is currently a $24 thinspmillion grant
administered by two trade groups the recently merged SAG-AFTRA actorsrsquo union and the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers via its shared Industry Advancement and
Cooperative Fund mdash long has been criticized for the inherent conflict of interest present in
Hollywood bankrolling its regulator (The IACF is endowed as part of the producersrsquo obligation
to the actorsrsquo union)
ldquoWas it a close call What isindisputable was that no
harm came to King Could
you argue he had a momentBut he continued to workrdquo
This unique compact in which a nonprofit has taken on the role
of a regulator of industry in lieu of more traditional government
oversight mdash and therefore is not subject to public disclosure
laws allowing its work to mostly remain shrouded in secrecy
mdash means the AHA is accountable only to Hollywood itself (For
more on the AHA and the IACF see sidebar)
Dr S Kwane Stewart a veterinarian who took over as the
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 617
Dr S Kwane Stewart head of the
AHArsquos monitoring program in
reference to an incident involving a
tiger on Foxrsquos Life of Pi
national director of the AHArsquos ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo
program in April defends the arrangement ldquoThis whole idea
that wersquore cozy with the industry mdash itrsquos simply not the caserdquo he
tells THR ldquoWe first and foremost want to keep the animals
saferdquo Nevertheless he adds ldquowe need to keep in mind that
[the producers and directors of productions the AHA monitors]
want to arrive at their vision as wellrdquo For example he says
consider the unique challenges posed by working with horses
ldquoThese are huge animals with blazing speed on stilts If you
want to avoid incidents keep them in the stables entirelyrdquo
In fact it was after the deaths of four horses during the
production of HBOrsquos now-canceled horse-racing drama series
Luck in 2010-2012 that new complaints from animal-rights
activists and on-set whistle-blowers emerged about the
effectiveness of the AHA and its often close relationship to the
industry (see sidebar for the full story on what happened on
Luck)
In January Barbara Casey the Studio City-based Film amp TV
Unitrsquos former head of production sued the AHA HBO and
Stewart Productions (not affiliated with Dr Stewart) in LA
Superior Court for wrongful termination stemming from the
fallout over the horse deaths She alleges that she was
informed of ongoing mistreatment of animals on the Luck set
and aggressively advocated for safer conduct which held up
the production schedule As a result Luckrsquos makers ldquoexercised
their political muscle and influence with AHArdquo she says and
her employer subsequently fired her under pressure
Casey alleges that her dismissal is part of a larger pattern in
which the organization ldquokowtowsrdquo to the industry a claim
echoed by AHA employees to whom THR has spoken In her
court filings Casey enumerates repeated incidents of
appeasement and collusion These range from the death of a
cow on HBOrsquos Temple Grandin and the incident involving King
the tiger on Life of Pi to the 27 animal fatalities during the
production of The Hobbit
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ONHBOrsquoS lsquoLUCKrsquo ndash AND WHY
NOBODY WAS HELDACCOUNTABLE
Almost from the start of production in 2010
HBOrsquos horse-racing drama Luck was plagued
by allegations that its horses often were elderly
broken-down underfed and potentially even
drugged HBO strenuously defended its safety
protocols but four thoroughbred horses died
during production THRrsquos investigation drawing
on internal information obtained from AHA
sources found that not only may the horse
deaths have been avoidable but the true equine
damage was more extensive than originally
thought ndash and because two subsequent
investigations appear to have been botched no
one was held accountable
Read More gt
Casey also alleges in her filing that ldquoin order to protect Steven Spielberg one of the most
notable and influential persons in the history of film and because of the volume of press and
other publicity this film garnered AHA agreed to cover up the death of [a] horse [on War
Horse] and to give the 2011 film its lsquoNo Animals Were Harmedrsquo end creditrdquo
ldquoThey told animal control tofmdash themselves This is worsethan doing nothing This is
like a cop not just ignoring acrime but helping cover it
uprdquo
Bob Ferber retired LA City
Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor of the
AHA during his attempted 2005
investigation of horse deaths on
Foxrsquos Flicka
In its response to Caseyrsquos allegations the AHA says ldquoWe
absolutely and categorically deny the sensationalist
inflammatory misleading and untrue allegationsrdquo It adds ldquoWe
look forward to vigorously defending ourselves through the
proper legal channelsrdquo A hearing in the case is scheduled for
March 2014
An HBO spokeswoman declined to answer questions about
Luck referring THR to previously issued statements including
ldquoFrom the very outset of the project the safety of the animals
was of paramount concern to us Assertions of lax attitudes or
negligence could not be further from the truthrdquo
LUCK GUSMANO CESARETTHBO
Luck horses ran on the Santa Anita Park racetrack
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 717
Top
Animal cruelty has been a fact of life on productions since the inception of
Hollywood (Nearly 100 horses died during the shooting of 1959rsquos Ben-Hur alone)
Action-adventure films and Westerns were known to treat animals harshly in their
attempts to attain verisimilitude long before the advent of CGI As early as 1939 after a horse
was forced onto a slippery platform tilted to ensure it would plummet 70 feet off a cliff to its
death during the shooting of Jesse James the Hays Office typically busy with other forms of
morality policing invited the AHA (not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United
States) to be present on sets
Photo taken of a horse named Glass on the set of the Hallmark Channel movie Loversquos Resounding Courage shortly after
the animal w as impaled in an accident He w as soon euthanized
In 1980 following public outcry over animal mistreatment on Heavenrsquos Gate which practiced a
ghastly form of gritty realism that included real cockfights and disemboweled cows that
arrangement was more formally ratified by a clause in the collective bargaining agreement
between the actorsrsquo guild and the producersrsquo association (AHA monitors were barred at
gunpoint from the Heavenrsquos Gate set in Montanarsquos Glacier National Park)
The organization subsequently was authorized to review scripts and show up on any SAG set
at any time Perhaps more important its monitors who are licensed as law enforcement
officers could write citations and even mdash solely within the state of California mdash make arrests
Notably neither power has been exercised in the AHArsquos Hollywood history which spans at
least 35000 productions since 1980
The AHA is quick to point out in the widely circulated
ldquoProtecting Your Ass From Harmrdquo AHA industry pamphlet
about its work that the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
serves as an effective shield against potentially damaging
PR attacks from animal rights groups mdash the AHA positions
itself as the far more moderate bulwark to People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals which believes CGI should
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 817
entirely replace real animals mdash as well as being a now-
necessary disclaimer required by many distributors and
networks prior to release or airing
The AHArsquos jurisdiction is broad but far from complete American productions working outside a
union agreement or shooting internationally are charged a contractual fee of $80 per hour for a
monitor not including travel expenses But according to internal AHA Film amp TV Unit advisory
board meeting minutes from 2010 reviewed by THR many productions simply decline to
participate
Meanwhile only about 50 percent of animal action is monitored domestically according to Film
amp TV Unit senior adviser Karen Rosa The gap is due to a variety of factors from nonunion
productions that opt out to late notifications distant locations fluctuating shooting schedules
and inexperienced crewmembers who either donrsquot know or mdash in certain cases mdash donrsquot want to
ask for monitoring in the first place In addition because of the increase in movie and television
production in recent years the AHA sometimes doesnrsquot have enough safety representatives to
handle requested coverage resulting in brief visits by monitors or even none at all
ldquoReps get sent to multiple sets in a day which means we can check off a set as lsquocoveredrsquo
even though we only stayed there for five minutesrdquo says one staffer who notes that limited
personnel resources are allocated toward the riskiest scenes ldquoI feel that more and more this
is done not to make sure we at least see the trainers and animals and make sure that itrsquos not a
horrible situation but rather to keep the numbers up and make it look like we are monitoring
more than we actually arerdquo
The AHA frequently touts a 9998 percent safety rating mdash
meaning almost 100 percent of the animals they monitor are
not harmed But the AHArsquos internal critics insist the number is
farcical with no real statistical grounding They claim the
aggregate overall ratio is purposefully inflated by the inclusion of
high volumes of impossible-to-count insects mdash ldquoThink of days
where yoursquore using say 10000 worms 10000 cockroaches
50000 ants 25000 beetlesrdquo explains one employee mdash while
the number of injuries or deaths is undercounted because the
organization doesnrsquot account for those that occur while an
animal is in transit or at a holding facility (as opposed to
specifically on set) Adds a colleague ldquoItrsquos a total BS number
made up for PR purposesrdquo
In response Rosa says that the score is based on an
estimated number of animals monitored by the organization
over five years versus the number of known incidents ldquoI did it
by incident not necessarily by number of animals So when
you say insects well I did count fish helliprdquo she says ldquoWe do
about 100000 animals a year mdash and thatrsquos low because
sometimes therersquos a herd of cattle and a flock of birds So we
can only estimaterdquo
On Disneyrsquos The Chroniclesof Narnia Prince Caspian
horses were repeatedlypulled for injuries ndash internalAHA notes from a single day
show that 14 were out ofcommission at once Yet itreceived the No Animals
Were Harmed creditbecause the organizationnow explains none of the
injuries were serious or dueto ldquointentional harmrdquo
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 417
These employees allege and available AHA internal evidence
supports their claims that the organization distorts its film
ratings downplays or fails to publicly acknowledge harmful
incidents and sometimes doesnrsquot seriously pursue
investigations The AHA staffers agreed to speak because they
say they have lost hope in the potential for meaningful reform
unless outside pressure is brought to bear (They all have
insisted on maintaining their anonymity for fear of retribution)
ADVERTISEMENT
Although AHA employees tell THR there was reason to suspect
that negligence played some role mdash if the scene had been set up
differently they say Glass and other horses likely would not have
been in a position to be injured in an accident mdash the AHA did not
A horse named Glass wasfatally impaled on a
Once a distinctly outsider entity which had to fight for its right to independently
monitor productions in the first place today the AHA has transformed itself into an
entrenched industry insider The organization undeniably has improved the care
and safety of animals used in Hollywood But interviews with six AHA employees and an
extensive review of internal AHA documents including incident logs emails meeting minutes
audit assessments and more strongly suggest that the organizationrsquos fundamental work mdash
protecting animals through credibly neutral on-set oversight mdash today is inadequate
More recently the organization mdash whose other nationwide animal efforts range from rescue
and shelter services following large-scale disasters to a cage-free certification program for
meat poultry egg and dairy producers mdash has faced conflicts of interest stemming from its
desire to be a part of the industry itrsquos meant to regulate
Exhibit A On Oct 1 2011 the Hallmark Channel premiered Loversquos Everlasting Courage a TV
movie about pioneer-era America that was monitored by the AHA That same evening the AHA
presented its inaugural Hero Dog Awards attended by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg Betty
White and Hayden Panettiere at the Beverly Hilton Hallmark subsequently broadcast the Hero
Dog Awards gala just as itrsquos done each year since It was a natural fit mdash after all the
networkrsquos head Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott sat on the AHArsquos Film amp TV Unit advisory board
(he would join the AHArsquos full national board just after the 2011 Hero Dog Awards event)
The symbiotic relationship between the two organizations is important in light of an incident
that occurred June 9 2010 during the filming of Courage That day a horse named Glass mdash
known for his gentle demeanor one blue eye and a distinctive white blaze of mane set against
a shimmering black coat mdash was fatally injured when a ldquorunawayrdquo wagon really did lose control
and the carriagersquos crossbar broke (think of a pencil snapping) impaling the animalrsquos left
hindquarter ldquoHe then went into shock from extreme blood loss and the vet decided it would be
more humane to euthanize him than allow him to sufferrdquo according to an internal AHA report
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 517
investigate According to an AHA statement given to THR the
driver didnrsquot lose control and an investigation wasnrsquot necessary
ldquoWe were present witnessed the entire day of shooting and had
the veterinary report hellip It was a miscalculation not an act of
negligencerdquo (The film did not receive an AHA end credit but that
is not unusual for a television production)
Abbott in an interview with THR adds ldquoWe looked at it and
found that we had a clear conscience hellip We donrsquot think an
outside investigation would have revealed anything differentlyrdquo
As to whether his close relationship with the AHA creates a
conflict of interest he says ldquoI can understand how that would
raise an eyebrow But itrsquos almost like when a coach has a son on
the team and that coach is more difficult on that son than other
peoplerdquo
Hallmark Channel moviemonitored by the American
Humane AssociationNegligence may have been a
factor yet no probe waslaunched
At the time network CEO Bill Abbott
sat on the AHArsquos advisory board He
says ldquoWe donrsquot think an outside
investigation would have revealed
anything differentlyrdquo
Top
Charges of improper coziness between the AHA and the entertainment business
have been raised before The arrangement by which the Film amp TV Unitrsquos budget
has been mostly financed mdash through what is currently a $24 thinspmillion grant
administered by two trade groups the recently merged SAG-AFTRA actorsrsquo union and the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers via its shared Industry Advancement and
Cooperative Fund mdash long has been criticized for the inherent conflict of interest present in
Hollywood bankrolling its regulator (The IACF is endowed as part of the producersrsquo obligation
to the actorsrsquo union)
ldquoWas it a close call What isindisputable was that no
harm came to King Could
you argue he had a momentBut he continued to workrdquo
This unique compact in which a nonprofit has taken on the role
of a regulator of industry in lieu of more traditional government
oversight mdash and therefore is not subject to public disclosure
laws allowing its work to mostly remain shrouded in secrecy
mdash means the AHA is accountable only to Hollywood itself (For
more on the AHA and the IACF see sidebar)
Dr S Kwane Stewart a veterinarian who took over as the
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 617
Dr S Kwane Stewart head of the
AHArsquos monitoring program in
reference to an incident involving a
tiger on Foxrsquos Life of Pi
national director of the AHArsquos ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo
program in April defends the arrangement ldquoThis whole idea
that wersquore cozy with the industry mdash itrsquos simply not the caserdquo he
tells THR ldquoWe first and foremost want to keep the animals
saferdquo Nevertheless he adds ldquowe need to keep in mind that
[the producers and directors of productions the AHA monitors]
want to arrive at their vision as wellrdquo For example he says
consider the unique challenges posed by working with horses
ldquoThese are huge animals with blazing speed on stilts If you
want to avoid incidents keep them in the stables entirelyrdquo
In fact it was after the deaths of four horses during the
production of HBOrsquos now-canceled horse-racing drama series
Luck in 2010-2012 that new complaints from animal-rights
activists and on-set whistle-blowers emerged about the
effectiveness of the AHA and its often close relationship to the
industry (see sidebar for the full story on what happened on
Luck)
In January Barbara Casey the Studio City-based Film amp TV
Unitrsquos former head of production sued the AHA HBO and
Stewart Productions (not affiliated with Dr Stewart) in LA
Superior Court for wrongful termination stemming from the
fallout over the horse deaths She alleges that she was
informed of ongoing mistreatment of animals on the Luck set
and aggressively advocated for safer conduct which held up
the production schedule As a result Luckrsquos makers ldquoexercised
their political muscle and influence with AHArdquo she says and
her employer subsequently fired her under pressure
Casey alleges that her dismissal is part of a larger pattern in
which the organization ldquokowtowsrdquo to the industry a claim
echoed by AHA employees to whom THR has spoken In her
court filings Casey enumerates repeated incidents of
appeasement and collusion These range from the death of a
cow on HBOrsquos Temple Grandin and the incident involving King
the tiger on Life of Pi to the 27 animal fatalities during the
production of The Hobbit
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ONHBOrsquoS lsquoLUCKrsquo ndash AND WHY
NOBODY WAS HELDACCOUNTABLE
Almost from the start of production in 2010
HBOrsquos horse-racing drama Luck was plagued
by allegations that its horses often were elderly
broken-down underfed and potentially even
drugged HBO strenuously defended its safety
protocols but four thoroughbred horses died
during production THRrsquos investigation drawing
on internal information obtained from AHA
sources found that not only may the horse
deaths have been avoidable but the true equine
damage was more extensive than originally
thought ndash and because two subsequent
investigations appear to have been botched no
one was held accountable
Read More gt
Casey also alleges in her filing that ldquoin order to protect Steven Spielberg one of the most
notable and influential persons in the history of film and because of the volume of press and
other publicity this film garnered AHA agreed to cover up the death of [a] horse [on War
Horse] and to give the 2011 film its lsquoNo Animals Were Harmedrsquo end creditrdquo
ldquoThey told animal control tofmdash themselves This is worsethan doing nothing This is
like a cop not just ignoring acrime but helping cover it
uprdquo
Bob Ferber retired LA City
Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor of the
AHA during his attempted 2005
investigation of horse deaths on
Foxrsquos Flicka
In its response to Caseyrsquos allegations the AHA says ldquoWe
absolutely and categorically deny the sensationalist
inflammatory misleading and untrue allegationsrdquo It adds ldquoWe
look forward to vigorously defending ourselves through the
proper legal channelsrdquo A hearing in the case is scheduled for
March 2014
An HBO spokeswoman declined to answer questions about
Luck referring THR to previously issued statements including
ldquoFrom the very outset of the project the safety of the animals
was of paramount concern to us Assertions of lax attitudes or
negligence could not be further from the truthrdquo
LUCK GUSMANO CESARETTHBO
Luck horses ran on the Santa Anita Park racetrack
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 717
Top
Animal cruelty has been a fact of life on productions since the inception of
Hollywood (Nearly 100 horses died during the shooting of 1959rsquos Ben-Hur alone)
Action-adventure films and Westerns were known to treat animals harshly in their
attempts to attain verisimilitude long before the advent of CGI As early as 1939 after a horse
was forced onto a slippery platform tilted to ensure it would plummet 70 feet off a cliff to its
death during the shooting of Jesse James the Hays Office typically busy with other forms of
morality policing invited the AHA (not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United
States) to be present on sets
Photo taken of a horse named Glass on the set of the Hallmark Channel movie Loversquos Resounding Courage shortly after
the animal w as impaled in an accident He w as soon euthanized
In 1980 following public outcry over animal mistreatment on Heavenrsquos Gate which practiced a
ghastly form of gritty realism that included real cockfights and disemboweled cows that
arrangement was more formally ratified by a clause in the collective bargaining agreement
between the actorsrsquo guild and the producersrsquo association (AHA monitors were barred at
gunpoint from the Heavenrsquos Gate set in Montanarsquos Glacier National Park)
The organization subsequently was authorized to review scripts and show up on any SAG set
at any time Perhaps more important its monitors who are licensed as law enforcement
officers could write citations and even mdash solely within the state of California mdash make arrests
Notably neither power has been exercised in the AHArsquos Hollywood history which spans at
least 35000 productions since 1980
The AHA is quick to point out in the widely circulated
ldquoProtecting Your Ass From Harmrdquo AHA industry pamphlet
about its work that the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
serves as an effective shield against potentially damaging
PR attacks from animal rights groups mdash the AHA positions
itself as the far more moderate bulwark to People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals which believes CGI should
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 817
entirely replace real animals mdash as well as being a now-
necessary disclaimer required by many distributors and
networks prior to release or airing
The AHArsquos jurisdiction is broad but far from complete American productions working outside a
union agreement or shooting internationally are charged a contractual fee of $80 per hour for a
monitor not including travel expenses But according to internal AHA Film amp TV Unit advisory
board meeting minutes from 2010 reviewed by THR many productions simply decline to
participate
Meanwhile only about 50 percent of animal action is monitored domestically according to Film
amp TV Unit senior adviser Karen Rosa The gap is due to a variety of factors from nonunion
productions that opt out to late notifications distant locations fluctuating shooting schedules
and inexperienced crewmembers who either donrsquot know or mdash in certain cases mdash donrsquot want to
ask for monitoring in the first place In addition because of the increase in movie and television
production in recent years the AHA sometimes doesnrsquot have enough safety representatives to
handle requested coverage resulting in brief visits by monitors or even none at all
ldquoReps get sent to multiple sets in a day which means we can check off a set as lsquocoveredrsquo
even though we only stayed there for five minutesrdquo says one staffer who notes that limited
personnel resources are allocated toward the riskiest scenes ldquoI feel that more and more this
is done not to make sure we at least see the trainers and animals and make sure that itrsquos not a
horrible situation but rather to keep the numbers up and make it look like we are monitoring
more than we actually arerdquo
The AHA frequently touts a 9998 percent safety rating mdash
meaning almost 100 percent of the animals they monitor are
not harmed But the AHArsquos internal critics insist the number is
farcical with no real statistical grounding They claim the
aggregate overall ratio is purposefully inflated by the inclusion of
high volumes of impossible-to-count insects mdash ldquoThink of days
where yoursquore using say 10000 worms 10000 cockroaches
50000 ants 25000 beetlesrdquo explains one employee mdash while
the number of injuries or deaths is undercounted because the
organization doesnrsquot account for those that occur while an
animal is in transit or at a holding facility (as opposed to
specifically on set) Adds a colleague ldquoItrsquos a total BS number
made up for PR purposesrdquo
In response Rosa says that the score is based on an
estimated number of animals monitored by the organization
over five years versus the number of known incidents ldquoI did it
by incident not necessarily by number of animals So when
you say insects well I did count fish helliprdquo she says ldquoWe do
about 100000 animals a year mdash and thatrsquos low because
sometimes therersquos a herd of cattle and a flock of birds So we
can only estimaterdquo
On Disneyrsquos The Chroniclesof Narnia Prince Caspian
horses were repeatedlypulled for injuries ndash internalAHA notes from a single day
show that 14 were out ofcommission at once Yet itreceived the No Animals
Were Harmed creditbecause the organizationnow explains none of the
injuries were serious or dueto ldquointentional harmrdquo
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 517
investigate According to an AHA statement given to THR the
driver didnrsquot lose control and an investigation wasnrsquot necessary
ldquoWe were present witnessed the entire day of shooting and had
the veterinary report hellip It was a miscalculation not an act of
negligencerdquo (The film did not receive an AHA end credit but that
is not unusual for a television production)
Abbott in an interview with THR adds ldquoWe looked at it and
found that we had a clear conscience hellip We donrsquot think an
outside investigation would have revealed anything differentlyrdquo
As to whether his close relationship with the AHA creates a
conflict of interest he says ldquoI can understand how that would
raise an eyebrow But itrsquos almost like when a coach has a son on
the team and that coach is more difficult on that son than other
peoplerdquo
Hallmark Channel moviemonitored by the American
Humane AssociationNegligence may have been a
factor yet no probe waslaunched
At the time network CEO Bill Abbott
sat on the AHArsquos advisory board He
says ldquoWe donrsquot think an outside
investigation would have revealed
anything differentlyrdquo
Top
Charges of improper coziness between the AHA and the entertainment business
have been raised before The arrangement by which the Film amp TV Unitrsquos budget
has been mostly financed mdash through what is currently a $24 thinspmillion grant
administered by two trade groups the recently merged SAG-AFTRA actorsrsquo union and the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers via its shared Industry Advancement and
Cooperative Fund mdash long has been criticized for the inherent conflict of interest present in
Hollywood bankrolling its regulator (The IACF is endowed as part of the producersrsquo obligation
to the actorsrsquo union)
ldquoWas it a close call What isindisputable was that no
harm came to King Could
you argue he had a momentBut he continued to workrdquo
This unique compact in which a nonprofit has taken on the role
of a regulator of industry in lieu of more traditional government
oversight mdash and therefore is not subject to public disclosure
laws allowing its work to mostly remain shrouded in secrecy
mdash means the AHA is accountable only to Hollywood itself (For
more on the AHA and the IACF see sidebar)
Dr S Kwane Stewart a veterinarian who took over as the
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 617
Dr S Kwane Stewart head of the
AHArsquos monitoring program in
reference to an incident involving a
tiger on Foxrsquos Life of Pi
national director of the AHArsquos ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo
program in April defends the arrangement ldquoThis whole idea
that wersquore cozy with the industry mdash itrsquos simply not the caserdquo he
tells THR ldquoWe first and foremost want to keep the animals
saferdquo Nevertheless he adds ldquowe need to keep in mind that
[the producers and directors of productions the AHA monitors]
want to arrive at their vision as wellrdquo For example he says
consider the unique challenges posed by working with horses
ldquoThese are huge animals with blazing speed on stilts If you
want to avoid incidents keep them in the stables entirelyrdquo
In fact it was after the deaths of four horses during the
production of HBOrsquos now-canceled horse-racing drama series
Luck in 2010-2012 that new complaints from animal-rights
activists and on-set whistle-blowers emerged about the
effectiveness of the AHA and its often close relationship to the
industry (see sidebar for the full story on what happened on
Luck)
In January Barbara Casey the Studio City-based Film amp TV
Unitrsquos former head of production sued the AHA HBO and
Stewart Productions (not affiliated with Dr Stewart) in LA
Superior Court for wrongful termination stemming from the
fallout over the horse deaths She alleges that she was
informed of ongoing mistreatment of animals on the Luck set
and aggressively advocated for safer conduct which held up
the production schedule As a result Luckrsquos makers ldquoexercised
their political muscle and influence with AHArdquo she says and
her employer subsequently fired her under pressure
Casey alleges that her dismissal is part of a larger pattern in
which the organization ldquokowtowsrdquo to the industry a claim
echoed by AHA employees to whom THR has spoken In her
court filings Casey enumerates repeated incidents of
appeasement and collusion These range from the death of a
cow on HBOrsquos Temple Grandin and the incident involving King
the tiger on Life of Pi to the 27 animal fatalities during the
production of The Hobbit
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ONHBOrsquoS lsquoLUCKrsquo ndash AND WHY
NOBODY WAS HELDACCOUNTABLE
Almost from the start of production in 2010
HBOrsquos horse-racing drama Luck was plagued
by allegations that its horses often were elderly
broken-down underfed and potentially even
drugged HBO strenuously defended its safety
protocols but four thoroughbred horses died
during production THRrsquos investigation drawing
on internal information obtained from AHA
sources found that not only may the horse
deaths have been avoidable but the true equine
damage was more extensive than originally
thought ndash and because two subsequent
investigations appear to have been botched no
one was held accountable
Read More gt
Casey also alleges in her filing that ldquoin order to protect Steven Spielberg one of the most
notable and influential persons in the history of film and because of the volume of press and
other publicity this film garnered AHA agreed to cover up the death of [a] horse [on War
Horse] and to give the 2011 film its lsquoNo Animals Were Harmedrsquo end creditrdquo
ldquoThey told animal control tofmdash themselves This is worsethan doing nothing This is
like a cop not just ignoring acrime but helping cover it
uprdquo
Bob Ferber retired LA City
Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor of the
AHA during his attempted 2005
investigation of horse deaths on
Foxrsquos Flicka
In its response to Caseyrsquos allegations the AHA says ldquoWe
absolutely and categorically deny the sensationalist
inflammatory misleading and untrue allegationsrdquo It adds ldquoWe
look forward to vigorously defending ourselves through the
proper legal channelsrdquo A hearing in the case is scheduled for
March 2014
An HBO spokeswoman declined to answer questions about
Luck referring THR to previously issued statements including
ldquoFrom the very outset of the project the safety of the animals
was of paramount concern to us Assertions of lax attitudes or
negligence could not be further from the truthrdquo
LUCK GUSMANO CESARETTHBO
Luck horses ran on the Santa Anita Park racetrack
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 717
Top
Animal cruelty has been a fact of life on productions since the inception of
Hollywood (Nearly 100 horses died during the shooting of 1959rsquos Ben-Hur alone)
Action-adventure films and Westerns were known to treat animals harshly in their
attempts to attain verisimilitude long before the advent of CGI As early as 1939 after a horse
was forced onto a slippery platform tilted to ensure it would plummet 70 feet off a cliff to its
death during the shooting of Jesse James the Hays Office typically busy with other forms of
morality policing invited the AHA (not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United
States) to be present on sets
Photo taken of a horse named Glass on the set of the Hallmark Channel movie Loversquos Resounding Courage shortly after
the animal w as impaled in an accident He w as soon euthanized
In 1980 following public outcry over animal mistreatment on Heavenrsquos Gate which practiced a
ghastly form of gritty realism that included real cockfights and disemboweled cows that
arrangement was more formally ratified by a clause in the collective bargaining agreement
between the actorsrsquo guild and the producersrsquo association (AHA monitors were barred at
gunpoint from the Heavenrsquos Gate set in Montanarsquos Glacier National Park)
The organization subsequently was authorized to review scripts and show up on any SAG set
at any time Perhaps more important its monitors who are licensed as law enforcement
officers could write citations and even mdash solely within the state of California mdash make arrests
Notably neither power has been exercised in the AHArsquos Hollywood history which spans at
least 35000 productions since 1980
The AHA is quick to point out in the widely circulated
ldquoProtecting Your Ass From Harmrdquo AHA industry pamphlet
about its work that the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
serves as an effective shield against potentially damaging
PR attacks from animal rights groups mdash the AHA positions
itself as the far more moderate bulwark to People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals which believes CGI should
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 817
entirely replace real animals mdash as well as being a now-
necessary disclaimer required by many distributors and
networks prior to release or airing
The AHArsquos jurisdiction is broad but far from complete American productions working outside a
union agreement or shooting internationally are charged a contractual fee of $80 per hour for a
monitor not including travel expenses But according to internal AHA Film amp TV Unit advisory
board meeting minutes from 2010 reviewed by THR many productions simply decline to
participate
Meanwhile only about 50 percent of animal action is monitored domestically according to Film
amp TV Unit senior adviser Karen Rosa The gap is due to a variety of factors from nonunion
productions that opt out to late notifications distant locations fluctuating shooting schedules
and inexperienced crewmembers who either donrsquot know or mdash in certain cases mdash donrsquot want to
ask for monitoring in the first place In addition because of the increase in movie and television
production in recent years the AHA sometimes doesnrsquot have enough safety representatives to
handle requested coverage resulting in brief visits by monitors or even none at all
ldquoReps get sent to multiple sets in a day which means we can check off a set as lsquocoveredrsquo
even though we only stayed there for five minutesrdquo says one staffer who notes that limited
personnel resources are allocated toward the riskiest scenes ldquoI feel that more and more this
is done not to make sure we at least see the trainers and animals and make sure that itrsquos not a
horrible situation but rather to keep the numbers up and make it look like we are monitoring
more than we actually arerdquo
The AHA frequently touts a 9998 percent safety rating mdash
meaning almost 100 percent of the animals they monitor are
not harmed But the AHArsquos internal critics insist the number is
farcical with no real statistical grounding They claim the
aggregate overall ratio is purposefully inflated by the inclusion of
high volumes of impossible-to-count insects mdash ldquoThink of days
where yoursquore using say 10000 worms 10000 cockroaches
50000 ants 25000 beetlesrdquo explains one employee mdash while
the number of injuries or deaths is undercounted because the
organization doesnrsquot account for those that occur while an
animal is in transit or at a holding facility (as opposed to
specifically on set) Adds a colleague ldquoItrsquos a total BS number
made up for PR purposesrdquo
In response Rosa says that the score is based on an
estimated number of animals monitored by the organization
over five years versus the number of known incidents ldquoI did it
by incident not necessarily by number of animals So when
you say insects well I did count fish helliprdquo she says ldquoWe do
about 100000 animals a year mdash and thatrsquos low because
sometimes therersquos a herd of cattle and a flock of birds So we
can only estimaterdquo
On Disneyrsquos The Chroniclesof Narnia Prince Caspian
horses were repeatedlypulled for injuries ndash internalAHA notes from a single day
show that 14 were out ofcommission at once Yet itreceived the No Animals
Were Harmed creditbecause the organizationnow explains none of the
injuries were serious or dueto ldquointentional harmrdquo
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 617
Dr S Kwane Stewart head of the
AHArsquos monitoring program in
reference to an incident involving a
tiger on Foxrsquos Life of Pi
national director of the AHArsquos ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo
program in April defends the arrangement ldquoThis whole idea
that wersquore cozy with the industry mdash itrsquos simply not the caserdquo he
tells THR ldquoWe first and foremost want to keep the animals
saferdquo Nevertheless he adds ldquowe need to keep in mind that
[the producers and directors of productions the AHA monitors]
want to arrive at their vision as wellrdquo For example he says
consider the unique challenges posed by working with horses
ldquoThese are huge animals with blazing speed on stilts If you
want to avoid incidents keep them in the stables entirelyrdquo
In fact it was after the deaths of four horses during the
production of HBOrsquos now-canceled horse-racing drama series
Luck in 2010-2012 that new complaints from animal-rights
activists and on-set whistle-blowers emerged about the
effectiveness of the AHA and its often close relationship to the
industry (see sidebar for the full story on what happened on
Luck)
In January Barbara Casey the Studio City-based Film amp TV
Unitrsquos former head of production sued the AHA HBO and
Stewart Productions (not affiliated with Dr Stewart) in LA
Superior Court for wrongful termination stemming from the
fallout over the horse deaths She alleges that she was
informed of ongoing mistreatment of animals on the Luck set
and aggressively advocated for safer conduct which held up
the production schedule As a result Luckrsquos makers ldquoexercised
their political muscle and influence with AHArdquo she says and
her employer subsequently fired her under pressure
Casey alleges that her dismissal is part of a larger pattern in
which the organization ldquokowtowsrdquo to the industry a claim
echoed by AHA employees to whom THR has spoken In her
court filings Casey enumerates repeated incidents of
appeasement and collusion These range from the death of a
cow on HBOrsquos Temple Grandin and the incident involving King
the tiger on Life of Pi to the 27 animal fatalities during the
production of The Hobbit
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ONHBOrsquoS lsquoLUCKrsquo ndash AND WHY
NOBODY WAS HELDACCOUNTABLE
Almost from the start of production in 2010
HBOrsquos horse-racing drama Luck was plagued
by allegations that its horses often were elderly
broken-down underfed and potentially even
drugged HBO strenuously defended its safety
protocols but four thoroughbred horses died
during production THRrsquos investigation drawing
on internal information obtained from AHA
sources found that not only may the horse
deaths have been avoidable but the true equine
damage was more extensive than originally
thought ndash and because two subsequent
investigations appear to have been botched no
one was held accountable
Read More gt
Casey also alleges in her filing that ldquoin order to protect Steven Spielberg one of the most
notable and influential persons in the history of film and because of the volume of press and
other publicity this film garnered AHA agreed to cover up the death of [a] horse [on War
Horse] and to give the 2011 film its lsquoNo Animals Were Harmedrsquo end creditrdquo
ldquoThey told animal control tofmdash themselves This is worsethan doing nothing This is
like a cop not just ignoring acrime but helping cover it
uprdquo
Bob Ferber retired LA City
Attorneyrsquos office prosecutor of the
AHA during his attempted 2005
investigation of horse deaths on
Foxrsquos Flicka
In its response to Caseyrsquos allegations the AHA says ldquoWe
absolutely and categorically deny the sensationalist
inflammatory misleading and untrue allegationsrdquo It adds ldquoWe
look forward to vigorously defending ourselves through the
proper legal channelsrdquo A hearing in the case is scheduled for
March 2014
An HBO spokeswoman declined to answer questions about
Luck referring THR to previously issued statements including
ldquoFrom the very outset of the project the safety of the animals
was of paramount concern to us Assertions of lax attitudes or
negligence could not be further from the truthrdquo
LUCK GUSMANO CESARETTHBO
Luck horses ran on the Santa Anita Park racetrack
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 717
Top
Animal cruelty has been a fact of life on productions since the inception of
Hollywood (Nearly 100 horses died during the shooting of 1959rsquos Ben-Hur alone)
Action-adventure films and Westerns were known to treat animals harshly in their
attempts to attain verisimilitude long before the advent of CGI As early as 1939 after a horse
was forced onto a slippery platform tilted to ensure it would plummet 70 feet off a cliff to its
death during the shooting of Jesse James the Hays Office typically busy with other forms of
morality policing invited the AHA (not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United
States) to be present on sets
Photo taken of a horse named Glass on the set of the Hallmark Channel movie Loversquos Resounding Courage shortly after
the animal w as impaled in an accident He w as soon euthanized
In 1980 following public outcry over animal mistreatment on Heavenrsquos Gate which practiced a
ghastly form of gritty realism that included real cockfights and disemboweled cows that
arrangement was more formally ratified by a clause in the collective bargaining agreement
between the actorsrsquo guild and the producersrsquo association (AHA monitors were barred at
gunpoint from the Heavenrsquos Gate set in Montanarsquos Glacier National Park)
The organization subsequently was authorized to review scripts and show up on any SAG set
at any time Perhaps more important its monitors who are licensed as law enforcement
officers could write citations and even mdash solely within the state of California mdash make arrests
Notably neither power has been exercised in the AHArsquos Hollywood history which spans at
least 35000 productions since 1980
The AHA is quick to point out in the widely circulated
ldquoProtecting Your Ass From Harmrdquo AHA industry pamphlet
about its work that the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
serves as an effective shield against potentially damaging
PR attacks from animal rights groups mdash the AHA positions
itself as the far more moderate bulwark to People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals which believes CGI should
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 817
entirely replace real animals mdash as well as being a now-
necessary disclaimer required by many distributors and
networks prior to release or airing
The AHArsquos jurisdiction is broad but far from complete American productions working outside a
union agreement or shooting internationally are charged a contractual fee of $80 per hour for a
monitor not including travel expenses But according to internal AHA Film amp TV Unit advisory
board meeting minutes from 2010 reviewed by THR many productions simply decline to
participate
Meanwhile only about 50 percent of animal action is monitored domestically according to Film
amp TV Unit senior adviser Karen Rosa The gap is due to a variety of factors from nonunion
productions that opt out to late notifications distant locations fluctuating shooting schedules
and inexperienced crewmembers who either donrsquot know or mdash in certain cases mdash donrsquot want to
ask for monitoring in the first place In addition because of the increase in movie and television
production in recent years the AHA sometimes doesnrsquot have enough safety representatives to
handle requested coverage resulting in brief visits by monitors or even none at all
ldquoReps get sent to multiple sets in a day which means we can check off a set as lsquocoveredrsquo
even though we only stayed there for five minutesrdquo says one staffer who notes that limited
personnel resources are allocated toward the riskiest scenes ldquoI feel that more and more this
is done not to make sure we at least see the trainers and animals and make sure that itrsquos not a
horrible situation but rather to keep the numbers up and make it look like we are monitoring
more than we actually arerdquo
The AHA frequently touts a 9998 percent safety rating mdash
meaning almost 100 percent of the animals they monitor are
not harmed But the AHArsquos internal critics insist the number is
farcical with no real statistical grounding They claim the
aggregate overall ratio is purposefully inflated by the inclusion of
high volumes of impossible-to-count insects mdash ldquoThink of days
where yoursquore using say 10000 worms 10000 cockroaches
50000 ants 25000 beetlesrdquo explains one employee mdash while
the number of injuries or deaths is undercounted because the
organization doesnrsquot account for those that occur while an
animal is in transit or at a holding facility (as opposed to
specifically on set) Adds a colleague ldquoItrsquos a total BS number
made up for PR purposesrdquo
In response Rosa says that the score is based on an
estimated number of animals monitored by the organization
over five years versus the number of known incidents ldquoI did it
by incident not necessarily by number of animals So when
you say insects well I did count fish helliprdquo she says ldquoWe do
about 100000 animals a year mdash and thatrsquos low because
sometimes therersquos a herd of cattle and a flock of birds So we
can only estimaterdquo
On Disneyrsquos The Chroniclesof Narnia Prince Caspian
horses were repeatedlypulled for injuries ndash internalAHA notes from a single day
show that 14 were out ofcommission at once Yet itreceived the No Animals
Were Harmed creditbecause the organizationnow explains none of the
injuries were serious or dueto ldquointentional harmrdquo
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 717
Top
Animal cruelty has been a fact of life on productions since the inception of
Hollywood (Nearly 100 horses died during the shooting of 1959rsquos Ben-Hur alone)
Action-adventure films and Westerns were known to treat animals harshly in their
attempts to attain verisimilitude long before the advent of CGI As early as 1939 after a horse
was forced onto a slippery platform tilted to ensure it would plummet 70 feet off a cliff to its
death during the shooting of Jesse James the Hays Office typically busy with other forms of
morality policing invited the AHA (not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United
States) to be present on sets
Photo taken of a horse named Glass on the set of the Hallmark Channel movie Loversquos Resounding Courage shortly after
the animal w as impaled in an accident He w as soon euthanized
In 1980 following public outcry over animal mistreatment on Heavenrsquos Gate which practiced a
ghastly form of gritty realism that included real cockfights and disemboweled cows that
arrangement was more formally ratified by a clause in the collective bargaining agreement
between the actorsrsquo guild and the producersrsquo association (AHA monitors were barred at
gunpoint from the Heavenrsquos Gate set in Montanarsquos Glacier National Park)
The organization subsequently was authorized to review scripts and show up on any SAG set
at any time Perhaps more important its monitors who are licensed as law enforcement
officers could write citations and even mdash solely within the state of California mdash make arrests
Notably neither power has been exercised in the AHArsquos Hollywood history which spans at
least 35000 productions since 1980
The AHA is quick to point out in the widely circulated
ldquoProtecting Your Ass From Harmrdquo AHA industry pamphlet
about its work that the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit
serves as an effective shield against potentially damaging
PR attacks from animal rights groups mdash the AHA positions
itself as the far more moderate bulwark to People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals which believes CGI should
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 817
entirely replace real animals mdash as well as being a now-
necessary disclaimer required by many distributors and
networks prior to release or airing
The AHArsquos jurisdiction is broad but far from complete American productions working outside a
union agreement or shooting internationally are charged a contractual fee of $80 per hour for a
monitor not including travel expenses But according to internal AHA Film amp TV Unit advisory
board meeting minutes from 2010 reviewed by THR many productions simply decline to
participate
Meanwhile only about 50 percent of animal action is monitored domestically according to Film
amp TV Unit senior adviser Karen Rosa The gap is due to a variety of factors from nonunion
productions that opt out to late notifications distant locations fluctuating shooting schedules
and inexperienced crewmembers who either donrsquot know or mdash in certain cases mdash donrsquot want to
ask for monitoring in the first place In addition because of the increase in movie and television
production in recent years the AHA sometimes doesnrsquot have enough safety representatives to
handle requested coverage resulting in brief visits by monitors or even none at all
ldquoReps get sent to multiple sets in a day which means we can check off a set as lsquocoveredrsquo
even though we only stayed there for five minutesrdquo says one staffer who notes that limited
personnel resources are allocated toward the riskiest scenes ldquoI feel that more and more this
is done not to make sure we at least see the trainers and animals and make sure that itrsquos not a
horrible situation but rather to keep the numbers up and make it look like we are monitoring
more than we actually arerdquo
The AHA frequently touts a 9998 percent safety rating mdash
meaning almost 100 percent of the animals they monitor are
not harmed But the AHArsquos internal critics insist the number is
farcical with no real statistical grounding They claim the
aggregate overall ratio is purposefully inflated by the inclusion of
high volumes of impossible-to-count insects mdash ldquoThink of days
where yoursquore using say 10000 worms 10000 cockroaches
50000 ants 25000 beetlesrdquo explains one employee mdash while
the number of injuries or deaths is undercounted because the
organization doesnrsquot account for those that occur while an
animal is in transit or at a holding facility (as opposed to
specifically on set) Adds a colleague ldquoItrsquos a total BS number
made up for PR purposesrdquo
In response Rosa says that the score is based on an
estimated number of animals monitored by the organization
over five years versus the number of known incidents ldquoI did it
by incident not necessarily by number of animals So when
you say insects well I did count fish helliprdquo she says ldquoWe do
about 100000 animals a year mdash and thatrsquos low because
sometimes therersquos a herd of cattle and a flock of birds So we
can only estimaterdquo
On Disneyrsquos The Chroniclesof Narnia Prince Caspian
horses were repeatedlypulled for injuries ndash internalAHA notes from a single day
show that 14 were out ofcommission at once Yet itreceived the No Animals
Were Harmed creditbecause the organizationnow explains none of the
injuries were serious or dueto ldquointentional harmrdquo
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 817
entirely replace real animals mdash as well as being a now-
necessary disclaimer required by many distributors and
networks prior to release or airing
The AHArsquos jurisdiction is broad but far from complete American productions working outside a
union agreement or shooting internationally are charged a contractual fee of $80 per hour for a
monitor not including travel expenses But according to internal AHA Film amp TV Unit advisory
board meeting minutes from 2010 reviewed by THR many productions simply decline to
participate
Meanwhile only about 50 percent of animal action is monitored domestically according to Film
amp TV Unit senior adviser Karen Rosa The gap is due to a variety of factors from nonunion
productions that opt out to late notifications distant locations fluctuating shooting schedules
and inexperienced crewmembers who either donrsquot know or mdash in certain cases mdash donrsquot want to
ask for monitoring in the first place In addition because of the increase in movie and television
production in recent years the AHA sometimes doesnrsquot have enough safety representatives to
handle requested coverage resulting in brief visits by monitors or even none at all
ldquoReps get sent to multiple sets in a day which means we can check off a set as lsquocoveredrsquo
even though we only stayed there for five minutesrdquo says one staffer who notes that limited
personnel resources are allocated toward the riskiest scenes ldquoI feel that more and more this
is done not to make sure we at least see the trainers and animals and make sure that itrsquos not a
horrible situation but rather to keep the numbers up and make it look like we are monitoring
more than we actually arerdquo
The AHA frequently touts a 9998 percent safety rating mdash
meaning almost 100 percent of the animals they monitor are
not harmed But the AHArsquos internal critics insist the number is
farcical with no real statistical grounding They claim the
aggregate overall ratio is purposefully inflated by the inclusion of
high volumes of impossible-to-count insects mdash ldquoThink of days
where yoursquore using say 10000 worms 10000 cockroaches
50000 ants 25000 beetlesrdquo explains one employee mdash while
the number of injuries or deaths is undercounted because the
organization doesnrsquot account for those that occur while an
animal is in transit or at a holding facility (as opposed to
specifically on set) Adds a colleague ldquoItrsquos a total BS number
made up for PR purposesrdquo
In response Rosa says that the score is based on an
estimated number of animals monitored by the organization
over five years versus the number of known incidents ldquoI did it
by incident not necessarily by number of animals So when
you say insects well I did count fish helliprdquo she says ldquoWe do
about 100000 animals a year mdash and thatrsquos low because
sometimes therersquos a herd of cattle and a flock of birds So we
can only estimaterdquo
On Disneyrsquos The Chroniclesof Narnia Prince Caspian
horses were repeatedlypulled for injuries ndash internalAHA notes from a single day
show that 14 were out ofcommission at once Yet itreceived the No Animals
Were Harmed creditbecause the organizationnow explains none of the
injuries were serious or dueto ldquointentional harmrdquo
Top
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 917
The AHArsquos willingness to please the industry can begin even before shooting starts
with whatrsquos described as a politicized process of scheduling and placing its
monitors on sets Employees claim (and Caseyrsquos suit alleges) that productions
with strong ties to the organization often are able to successfully request which safety reps will
enforce their sets (Rosa denies this ldquoWe never make those kinds of promisesrdquo she says
ldquoWersquore not resourced well enough to make those kinds of promisesrdquo)
Why ldquoReps are only lsquogoodrsquo if theyrsquore not making any wavesrdquo explains one employee ldquoReps
who get complaints from a trainer are pulled from a set The ones who stand up for the
animalsrsquo welfare are labeled as troublemakersrdquo Adds another ldquoManagement calls reps who
complain to management [about issues on set] lsquonegativersquo Reps who have a professional
conflict with trainers or production are lsquonot being collaborativersquothinsprdquo (In her legal filings Casey
makes similar allegations)
The conflict of interest is worsened by the fact that some monitors are known to maintain
close friendships with their industry counterparts particularly the animal trainers whom they
most closely shadow on set One AHA rep dog-sits for trainers Others party with them (Many
monitors and trainers were classmates at the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and
Management Program north of Thousand Oaks) The most extreme examples involve a
handful of AHA reps who like Gina Johnson according to sources have engaged in intimate
relationships with those whose sets they oversee Stewart says that the AHA ldquobecame aware
of [the relationship]rdquo after the fact (Ms Johnson did not respond to requests for comment from
THR)
As for Johnsonrsquos dramatic email about the tiger incident ldquoI think Gina in her expression as she
would probably tell anybody probably overreactedrdquo Stewart says ldquoWas it a close call What
is indisputable was that no harm came to King Could you argue he had a moment But he
continued to workrdquo Fox also says the incident wasnrsquot serious ldquoThe tiger King was never
harmed and did not lsquonearly drownrsquo during the productionrdquo says a spokesman ldquoWe take on-set
safety very seriously and take every precaution necessary to ensure that no one mdash animal or
human mdash is harmed during the production of our filmsrdquo
An audit of the industrygrant that helps fund theAHA found evidence of
deliberate miscoding of timesheets The AHA says it was a
As to whether the AHA should implement a recusal policy when
reps become too close to their subjects Stewart says ldquoYour
question is a fair question The objectivity should be taken into
considerationrdquo
AHArsquos internal critics also express concern over the recently
departed communications chief Jone Boumanrsquos policy of
securing marketing and fundraising arrangements with animal-
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
About Us
Subscribe
Subscriber Services
Back Issues
FAQs
Advertising
Contact Us
Follow us on
Find us on
Watch us on
Our affiliate publications
Entertainment News RSS
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1017
ldquomisunderstandingrdquo that hasbeen corrected
oriented films from Paramountrsquos Hotel for Dogs (2009) to
Disneyrsquos War Horse before shooting is completed Initiatives
can range widely On Foxrsquos Marley amp Me (2008) for instance
they included a PSA campaign about pet adoption as well as a
promotion in which gifts purchased after being ldquofetchedrdquo by a
Marley widget on Amazoncom resulted in an 8 percent
donation to the AHA
ldquoCourting Spielberg mdash or any large name mdash is standardrdquo says one employee ldquoPR
relationships have to be established early on to lsquopartner uprsquo for publicity purposes profiting both
sides mdash versus us doing our job on set Pressure is then put on the rep to lsquoplay nicersquo or they
simply put a rep on the film who is known to lsquoplay nicersquo while downplaying any issues that may
prove controversialrdquo
According to employees the desire to collaborate with Hollywood emanates from the top They
say the AHArsquos CEO Robin Ganzert most recently deputy director of philanthropic services at
the Pew Charitable Trusts and with no previous professional animal welfare experience
aggressively pursues potential revenue- and awareness-raising partnerships with the
entertainment industry and has made the glitzy annual Hero Dog Awards gala mdash at which
prime 10-person table sponsorships start at $25000 mdash a centerpiece of her three-year tenure
Mark Stubis a spokesman for the AHA defends the partnerships ldquoItrsquos made very clear that
that promotion is not going to happen if that end credit is not granted Itrsquos a completely
independent actionrdquo
Top
KEY PLAYERS IN THIS DRAMAIllustrations by Michael Hoew eler
Jone Bouman
Former communications chief
Her marketing and fundraising arrangements
w ith animal-oriented f ilms raised conflict-of-
interest concerns among some AHA staffers
Gina Johnson
Safety representative
The on-set safety rep monitoring the Life of Pi
production in Taiw an w ho w rote a dramatic
email about a tiger incident
Barbara Casey
Former head of production
An AHA veteran w ho has f iled a w rongful
termination law suit alleging she w as f ired for
aggressively pushing improved safety
measures The AHA denies her allegations
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
About Us
Subscribe
Subscriber Services
Back Issues
FAQs
Advertising
Contact Us
Follow us on
Find us on
Watch us on
Our affiliate publications
Entertainment News RSS
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1117
Robin Ganzert
CEO
With a professional background in
fundraising she has pursued potential
revenue- and aw areness-raising Hollyw ood
partnerships
Karen Rosa
Senior advisor
A top Film amp TV Unit off icial she helps decide
how AHA pursues its investigations
adjudicates its production ratings and
aw ards
Dr Kwane Stewart
National Director
A veterinarian he became national director of
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program in
April
A HArsquos internal critics also say that investigations into injuries and deaths rarely are
initiated of the organizationrsquos own accord Rather they say AHA probes are
reactive and generally a face-saving tactic when incidents that occurred on its watch emerge
in the press and that the follow-through on such inquiries is risible
On Paramountrsquos Failure toLaunch a handler dropped achipmunk stepped on it andkilled it The AHArsquos officialrating review ignores the
incident because it occurredafter cameras stopped
rolling for the day and ldquonointentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
ldquoIf we acknowledge that something went wrong and wasnrsquot a
lsquotragic unpreventable accidentrsquo it means we bear some
responsibilityrdquo says one employee ldquoThe AHA does not want
responsibilityrdquo
Likewise when monitors do report serious incidents to their
superiors at the Film amp TV Unitrsquos Studio City headquarters they
claim there rarely is significant follow-up ldquoThere are plenty of
examples where we brought things to a higher level and
management squashed itrdquo says another staffer ldquoIt just goes
into the database and nothing ever happens Things go away all
the time theyrsquore never taken furtherrdquo
That attitude AHArsquos internal critics say results in a
disinclination to audit its own effectiveness in recent years
THR has obtained the last known report of such illnesses
injuries and deaths compiled by AHA a review that spanned
2001 to 2006 and focused on the perpetually at-risk equine
population
It concluded that 82 horses had been adversely affected while working on sets during this
period mdash ranging from The Alamo to Hidalgo Flicka to 310 to Yuma mdash with 58 injuries and
eight deaths (ldquocollision with camera carrdquo ldquostepped on lead roperdquo ldquoimpalementrdquo) Such
extensive transparent details about the reality of the on-set animal toll never have been shared
with the public
AHArsquos senior management ldquodiscourages this type of data mining so the organization can
appear ignorant of the factsrdquo one employee speculates ldquoSeveral of the reps have requested
the ability to data mine and have been told there is no funding to do this and the office doesnrsquot
have time to make this a priorityrdquo An AHA spokesman tells THR that it ldquowill take another study
under advisementrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
About Us
Subscribe
Subscriber Services
Back Issues
FAQs
Advertising
Contact Us
Follow us on
Find us on
Watch us on
Our affiliate publications
Entertainment News RSS
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1217
PETA remains concerned ldquoAs long as we have an organization thatrsquos intimidated by powerful
filmmakers the animals are always going to loserdquo says Kathy Guillermo a senior vice
president
Similarly when an investigation actually is launched AHArsquos
critics question whether the goal is to get to the bottom of a case
of alleged animal abuse or to minimize publicity problems for
itself and the film or TV production They describe a
management intent on searching whenever possible for reasons
to disregard trouble often by declaring that an incident falls
outside of its jurisdiction particularly with those that occur
physically off set in transit or at holding facilities following days
weeks or months of an animalrsquos work which can cause
cumulative physical and emotional stress and fragility ldquoWe are
responsible when there is a death to investigate it not to ignore
itrdquo says a staffer ldquoItrsquos in our guidelines to look at those deaths
whether on camera or off to make sure that the presence of the
production even just the hustle and bustle of the set didnrsquot
cause the deathrdquo
The aversion to investigations also is illustrated sources say by
the tightly circumscribed jurisdictional parameters that AHA
management sets for itself which the AHA says is due in part to
inadequate funding even as the number of productions has
dramatically increased over the years The sources point to a
lack of interest in pursuing inquiries in recent years into for
example why sick animals might have been made to work by
trainers as in the productions of Marmaduke and Our Idiot
Brother [Editors note After Animals Were Harmed was
published Christina Potter the owner trainer and on-set handler
of the dog in Our Idiot Brother contacted THR to reiterate that
his death was completely unrelated to his on-set work She
said From the day he started acting strangely to the day he
died (5 days later) Gable did not go back to work We had not
been on set for approximately a week when Gable started acting
lethargically ldquo] Or why a trainer was allowed to illegally transfer
exotic animals across state lines forcing their euthanasia (Four
deer meant to work on a Nature Valley Granola commercial
were put down by the Washington Department of Fish amp Wildlife
The AHA says local authorities were responsible for the matter)
Or why animals might die in transit after a day of shooting (as
occurred with the horse on War Horse which the AHA says died
ldquoin transit homerdquo of ldquonatural causesrdquo) or at a holding facility away
from the set (The Hobbitrsquos fatalities)
CHARLEY GALLAYWIREIMAGEGETTY IMAGESFrom left Carson Kressley Cesar Canine Cuisinersquos
Tierney Monaco and AHA CEO Ganzert at the 2011
Hero Dog Awards
IS THIS HOLLYWOODrsquoS MOSTDANGEROUS CO-DEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIP
After an audit that raised some questions the
entertainment industry group that funds ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo required more detailed
information from the AHA but otherwise took no
action After all Hollywood needs the AHA too
Without it the proliferation of on-set animal
injuries and deaths over the years might long
since have led to legislative intervention And itrsquos
hard to imagine the industry wanting the USDA
placing its federal inspectors on productions
tasked with writing transparent published
reports of their daily findings easily viewable
online by the public and funded by a tax on the
productions Read More gt
Stewart says the AHArsquos hands are tied in many of these situations because of its limited
budget and jurisdiction ldquoWe need to ultimately expand our jurisdiction Right now we donrsquot
have jurisdiction for animals in transit or those in holding facilitiesrdquo he says ldquoThose are things I
want to put in place moving forwardrdquo
Top
he result of the flaws in the AHArsquos process mdash from its selection of monitors to the restrictions
on their work and the organizationrsquos resistance to aggressively investigate alleged animal
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
About Us
Subscribe
Subscriber Services
Back Issues
FAQs
Advertising
Contact Us
Follow us on
Find us on
Watch us on
Our affiliate publications
Entertainment News RSS
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1317
Tmistreatment mdash calls into question the film ratings published on the organizationrsquos website
which assess the quality and scope of animal welfare on productions and the ldquoNo
Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit itself
Given the end creditrsquos blunt declarative statement there would not appear to be much wiggle
room But interviews with AHA sources along with internal documents suggest that the AHA
repeatedly has presented a more positive picture of what transpired on productions than its
own monitorsrsquo internal logs would justify Sources say that the end credit disclaimers are
adjudicated and film-rating reviews composed without the input of the monitors who were
actually on set during production and sometimes without even reviewing their reports (The
AHA denies this) Indeed they say there is no set formula governing such findings which in
the end have in certain cases been determined by executives who are overly concerned with
how such decisions may affect the organizationrsquos industry relationships
ldquoThe AHA does not explain why the films get the ratings they do to hide the fact that they do not
give them accurately across the board and that special relationships may be taken into
accountrdquo says one staffer ldquoManagement pressures postproduction [its department
responsible for the assessments] to give good reviews Even relationships that arenrsquot special
yet might be in the future and they donrsquot want to rock the boatrdquo
For example Disneyrsquos Eight Below was awarded the end credit despite a March 21 2005
incident report that noted ldquoThe hero dog seriously got into a fight with two other dogs The
trainer beat the dog harshly which included five punches to its diaphragm Our rep spoke to
him about this and he expressed that he had no choice The office instructed [the rep] to pull
the dogrdquo In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThe trainer had to use force to break up the
fight As a result the dogs were not injuredrdquo The AHA rep also asked for more trainers to be
on set
On another Disney project 2008rsquos The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian horses
repeatedly were pulled from production for lameness and injuries mdash AHA internal database
notes from June 23 2007 show that 14 were out of commission at once mdash with problems
ranging from a sore tail and a sore back to a ldquowound on noserdquo Yet the production still received
the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo disclaimer According to AHArsquos statement to THR the end
credit was justified because ldquonone of the injuries were serious and none were due to
intentional harmrdquo
In another incident 2005rsquos Son of the Mask from New Line received the end credit though a
Feb 2 2004 incident filing reveals that ldquomost of the fish died today that were under the care
and control of the prop department [Rep] said they died when the prop department totally
changed the water in the tank and replaced it with town tap waterrdquo Again the AHA says in its
statement the credit was bestowed because ldquowe believed this was not an intentional act of
crueltyrdquo though it also added that the organization ldquotoday would not evaluate it in the same
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
About Us
Subscribe
Subscriber Services
Back Issues
FAQs
Advertising
Contact Us
Follow us on
Find us on
Watch us on
Our affiliate publications
Entertainment News RSS
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1417
wayrdquo
In an interview with THR Candy Spelling a national AHA board member defends the
organizationrsquos intent behind the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo end credit ldquoI think what people
think [it means] is that when a horse dies in the movies it didnrsquot really dierdquo she says ldquoI think
that people think [the AHArsquos monitoring] is just when the cameras are rollingrdquo As for her
interpretation of the end credit she says ldquoI assume that no animals were harmed during the
shootingrdquo
Top
I n many cases reviewed by THR the AHArsquos official explanation of events does not
match up with its own internal records often in favor of the production Consider the
death of the chipmunk during the making of Failure to Launch
ldquo[The handler] dropped the chipmunk stepped on it and killed itrdquo according to a June 6 2005
incident note written by the on-set monitor ldquoLesson learned Donrsquot carry the chipmunk on your
shoulderrdquo Today the AHA says the chipmunk fell out of the trainerrsquos pocket when he tripped
Although the film didnrsquot receive the ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo credit the AHA attributed its
denial not to the dead chipmunk but to the studio failing to screen the film for the AHA before its
release The organizationrsquos online rating review of the film (ldquoMonitored Acceptablerdquo) mentions
only that a chipmunk was ldquoprepped for several weeks and was very tame and accustomed to
peoplerdquo not that one died
As for the dead chipmunk the AHA in its statement to THR says it was not a factor in its
decision regarding the credit because ldquoit occurred after filming and no intentional cruelty was
involvedrdquo
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
About Us
Subscribe
Subscriber Services
Back Issues
FAQs
Advertising
Contact Us
Follow us on
Find us on
Watch us on
Our affiliate publications
Entertainment News RSS
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1517
Indeed the AHArsquos definition of ldquoacceptablerdquo is so unclear that it
reveals little to the public about what actually took place during
production On Disneyrsquos Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of
the Black Pearl (2003) for example fish and other animals
were killed in underwater explosions (The AHA statement to
THR contradicts its on-set reprsquos contemporaneous notes and
says ldquoThe explosions were properly set uprdquo The AHA also
says ldquoit was never determined that the cause of the fish
washing up was due to the explosionsrdquo)
On There Will Be Blood from Paramount Vantage multiple
horses died including a couple from colic which often is
triggered by heatstroke (Nine days before they died on Junethinsp15
2006 the AHA rep on set in Texas received an anonymous
complaint that ldquoit is a very dry hot dusty and windy dayrdquo and
ldquothe horses are not getting waterrdquo)
In its statement to THR the AHA says ldquoThere was a rash of horses suffering from colic
throughout this countyrdquo at the time In its online review however the AHA did not reveal the
horse deaths or that colic was an issue It gave the film a modified end credit that read
ldquoAmerican Humane Association monitored the animal actionrdquo The AHA says viewers were
expected to infer that this truncated end credit ldquoindicates Accidental Harmrdquo to animals
occurred on the film No known AHA probes were launched in either case and both films
received ldquoAcceptablerdquo designations
The AHA also has in recent years developed a new category ldquoSpecial Circumstancesrdquo for
productions on which mdash either before during or after shooting mdash ldquoan unpreventable illness
injury or fatality can occur to an animalrdquo on a monitored set Itrsquos been given to The Hobbit Luck
and Sonyrsquos Zookeeper (A giraffe died on the latter film The organization wrote on its website
that ldquothe necropsy revealed nothing alarmingrdquo indicating that any health issue was ldquolikely
related to its maturing agerdquo but didnrsquot make readily available online a copy of the official report
it had reviewed to arrive at this determination or explain why an elderly giraffe was in the
production in the first place)
ldquo lsquoSpecial Circumstancesrsquo is used any time AHA feels it is not in their best interest to give a film
lsquoOutstandingrsquo lsquoAcceptablersquo or lsquoUnacceptablersquo in order to protect their own self-interestsrdquo says
one employee
ldquoBelieved Acceptablerdquo is yet one more designation awarded by the AHA in cases when it hasnrsquot
monitored all of the productionrsquos animal action and canrsquot truly vouch for safety Adds another
employee of the proliferating ratings ldquoItrsquos bogus Either animals got harmed or notrdquo
Top
Itrsquos in this already compromised environment that AHArsquos
management is moving ahead with a ldquofee-for-servicerdquo
plan Under the new arrangement coverage will be paid
for directly by productions rather than solely through the IACF
grant The initiative was first proposed over the summer with the
AHA wanting it to begin Sept 1 But the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers apparently caught off-guard pushed
back both regarding the newly incurred costs and the short
turnaround of its implementation Itrsquos now slated for Jan 1
The IACF supports the new arrangement which will augment its
YOST AP PHOTODAMIAN DOVARGANES
Chimpanzees Cody (left) and Sable kiss Yost at his
former training facility in Californiarsquos San Bernardino
County He now operates out of Louisiana
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD
ANIMALSWEREHARMED
RELATED MATERIALS amp STORIES RESEARCH DOCUMENTS HBOS LUCK IACF amp AHA SID YOST
COMPLICIT TO CRUELTY IMPROPER COZINESS ABUSIVE HISTORY UNSEEMLY TIES UNTRUSTWORTHY INQUIRIES QUESTIONABLE RATINGS SINS OF OMISSION FRAUGHT FUTURE
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
About Us
Subscribe
Subscriber Services
Back Issues
FAQs
Advertising
Contact Us
Follow us on
Find us on
Watch us on
Our affiliate publications
Entertainment News RSS
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1617
grant But AHArsquos critics argue that the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan will
worsen the potential conflicts of interest now that productions will
pay directly for the monitors that oversee them
Both Stewart and Rosa say the new funding plan is critical to the
AHArsquos ability to expand its monitoring and to protect more
animals ldquoThe industry has grown dramatically over the decades
that wersquove been doing thisrdquo Rosa says ldquoThe model of funding
wersquove had doesnrsquot satisfy the needs of the industry todayrdquo
Stewart adds that if the change in funding occurs ldquoIt doesnrsquot
compromise that ability to be objective on setrdquo
WHY DOES HOLLYWOODCONTINUE TO HIRE SID YOST
Animal trainer Sidney Yost is having a great
year Hersquos been hired to coordinate or provide
animals on prominent 2013 releases including
Lee Danielsrsquo The Butler 12 Years a Slave and
Olympus Has Fallen Yet Yost also is battling
the US Department of Agriculture which
alleges a litany of violations including
substandard veterinary care shoddy shelter
and poorly cleaned facilities and employing ldquoon
multiple occasionsrdquo a stick to hit a monkey
named Rowdy a lion named Romeo and
multiple tigers Yost has filed a detailed
response with the USDA challenging many of
the charges but the agency is seeking to
suspend or revoke his Animal Welfare Act
license which would effectively put him out of
business Read More gt
In addition to the ldquofee-for-servicerdquo plan the AHA says it is making other major changes to its
ldquoNo Animals Were Harmedrdquo program Putting a trained veterinarian such as Stewart in charge
is one The AHA also has converted its industry advisory committee created in 2009 into a
scientific advisory committee made up of an animal behaviorist veterinarians a specialist in
animal ethics and welfare and others The AHA also says that in late 2012 it instituted a policy
of requiring ldquothird-party investigations any time a serious injury or death occur[s] on setrdquo
Finally in what Rosa calls a ldquorestructuringrdquo the AHA recently fired several of its animal
monitors some of whom had been with the organization for many years They will be replaced
by five licensed veterinarians in states with high production rates
The organizationrsquos critics see that as an ominous development a smokescreen to allow it to
purge employees deemed to be troublemakers and replace them with vets who may be well-
positioned to care for an injured animal but arenrsquot trained to protect it from being harmed in the
first place during the filming of a movie or TV show
ldquoThe moral compass of the entire place is off the hookrdquo says one AHA employee Adds
another ldquoWersquove been hopeful for change but not this Itrsquos not changing Itrsquos getting worserdquo
This story first appeared in the December 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine
Top
ADVERTISEMENT
1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
httpwwwhollywoodreportercomfeature 1717
^ Top
copy2013 The Hollywood Reporter
All rights reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
About Us
Subscribe
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1182014 Animals Were Harmed Hollywoods Nightmare of Death Injury and Secrecy Exposed | Hollywood Reporter Exclusive
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