The actor is appalled over an alleged incident of abuse toward a German shepherd.
Actor Matthew Morrison is appalled over an alleged incident of animal abuse that took place on his latest movie’s set.
The 39-year-old star issued his stark condemnation shortly after the animal rights group PETA published a video that allegedly shows a German shepherd being hurled from a cage into a river on the set of “Crazy Alien,” which filmed in China.
“I’ve just been made aware and seen a video from the set of a film I worked on in China,” Morrison tweeted Friday morning. “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.”
PETA, which shared the video Thursday, described the video as “whistleblower footage” and says the unidentified informant also chronicled the abuse in a written log.
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That log, which PETA released Thursday as well, contends the incident occurred in the Chinese city of Changsha last November.
“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.… The director took many takes and this was just awful to witness as the torment went on,” the written account reads.
The whistleblower claims the caged dog was “completely submerged” into “freezing” water with a 10 miles-per-hour current.
“After 5-8 seconds the director yelled out ‘cut.’… A final decision was made by the director to shoot a second identical take,” the whistleblower wrote. “I could not believe my eyes.”
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PETA is requesting the stars of “Crazy Alien” donate their earnings to Chinese animal organizations and wants the film’s director, Hao Ning, to cut the scene and commit to stop using live animals in movies.
The animal rights group also released a statement condemning the incident.
“In a movie already using special effects, why was this animal subjected to fear and suffering?” the statement says. “Because there are no laws protecting animals on film sets in China, PETA is urging the actors to hold the production accountable and asking the public to boycott this hideously cruel film.”
“Crazy Alien” — a sci-fi comedy serving as the third installment to Ning’s “Crazy” trilogy — began production last summer, according to Deadline. It also stars Huang Bo, who appeared in the series’ first two installments, and Tom Pelphrey.
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The film is currently in post-production and is scheduled for a February 2019 premiere in China, according to Indie Wire .
Ning and the production company behind the movie, Dirty Monkey Films Group, have not commented on the dog video.
