When it comes to the film industry, entertainment companies often rely on animals to produce an incredible story.
Like humans, it's expected these animals are treated with the appreciation and respect they deserve. This includes scenes where they're "seen" to be hurt, which should be implemented by CGI editing techniques, and not real live stunts.
Sadly, this was not the case for the upcoming sci-fi flick, Crazy Alien, as a video featuring animal abuse has emerged.
On March 16, PETA leaked footage of a cage allegedly containing a dog being suspended over a pool of water. The crate is seen being spun around multiple times by crew members before it plunges into the water.
According to the animal rights group, they received the footage from an outraged whistleblower from the Chinese set of the movie.
"The second the dog cage rose into the air, the dog stopped barking instantly as the cables were used to spin the cage out of control in circles before solidly landing 40"“50 feet away," the whistleblower said. "The director took many takes and this was just awful to witness as the torment went on."
"The next shot was at the river's edge where the dog was put back into his cage and tormented into a frenzy once again," the whistleblower continued. "This time ... the cage ... was hoisted 20 ft. and was flung while spinning out of control towards the river. ... [T]he cage was completely submerged with the dog in it landing in a 10 mph current. After 5"“8 seconds, the director yelled out 'cut.'"
Warning: this video contains disturbing content.
Shocked by the footage, even one of the film's stars is speaking out over the alarming footage.
Following the release of the video, Glee star Matthew Morrison quickly took to Twitter to voice his anger, adding he was unaware of the on-set abuse.
"I've just been made aware and seen a video from the set of a film I worked on in China. My heart is broken to see any animal treated this way. Had I been on set or known about this, I would have made all efforts to stop this. I've called the producers to express my outrage," he tweeted.
A spokesperson for PETA told TMZ, have issued the movie's production with several demands.
- The scene be cut.
- Director Hao Ning to commit to never working with live animals again.
- The cast, including Morrison to donate their salaries to animal-protection charities in China.
- Reveal the current condition of the dog.
PETA told HuffPost that the footage that was being filmed was for a scene in which an alien picks up the dog and tosses it around. While Crazy Alien is now in the post-production stage, no release date for the film has been issued.
Will you still go see Crazy Alien when it comes out in theaters?