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Showing posts with label best friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best friends. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Alleged animal cruelty in production of "A Dog's Purpose" movie coming out soon - Animal Advocates

A Dog's Purpose, animal cruelty, dog, water, Birds and Animals Unlimited, Ray Beal, Raymond Beal, Canada, Animal Advocates
UPDATE: 02/03/2017 AHA just released the results of their investigation into themselves. They cleared themselves of all wrong doing, imagine that. Here is their report http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_documents/nr-report_Redacted-2.pdf

As an employee for AHA we were told that the animals cannot be stressed or frightened. That is "abuse." The dog didn't die but it was still frightened. That is not allowed on set per AHA's own regulations.

AHA investigated themselves in the tragic deaths of horses in the movie "My Friend Flicka." They said the deaths were "unavoidable accidents." That's not what the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services said after their very thorough investigation. They said the deaths were avoidable. No horse should be allowed to run with a dangling lead. That's common sense. You wouldn't let a little kid run with long shoe laces untied. Here is the official report from the City. http://www.animaladvocates.us/Flicka_Incident.pdf    Here is the result of AHA's investigation into themselves. http://www.eonline.com/news/49785/report-accidents-fell-flicka-friends  I worked for AHA during this time though I wasn't on the Flicka set. One of the AHA horse experts said it was the inspector's fault. An immediate result was adding to the inspection manual that no horse should be allowed to run free with a long dangling lead.

01/23/2017 I thought Gavin's name sound familiar. We went to Beverly Hills High School together.

Gavin Polone producer of "A Dog's Purpose" just gave a statement about the incident and the American Humane Association (AHA). He stated "American Humane Association (AHA) is not an adequate protector of animals on set. They are not independent from the studios. They don't take a stand against abuse. They should have stopped this."

http://tmzvod-a.akamaihd.net/tmz/2017-01/23/0_rqf3japn_0_dibiz8d9.mp4

PETA has released a protest flyer.

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_documents/dogs-purpose-peta-flier.pdf

The animal trainers have released this statement. This doesn't change anything. The dog was frightened. Everyone admits that. This is considered "harm." They admit the dog got sucked under the water. That would have also been frightening for the dog. They pulled the dog out. He did not drown or have any permanent harm. Still, he was frightened. Per AHA you cannot allow the animals to be frightened to shoot a scene. We still don't know who was holding the dog and trying to force him in the pool. It had to have been someone with Birds and Animals Unlimited. It doesn't look like Beals or the other listed animal trainer.

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_documents/0123_a_dogs_purpose_statement.pdf

This is from Gavin from the Hollywood Reporter.

"Last Thursday, I went to Amblin's office and watched all the film shot on the day in question, as well as saw video from the trainers and still photographs. As with the TMZ video that you saw, two things were evident: 1) the dog handler tries to force the dog, for 35 to 40 seconds, into the water when, clearly, he didn’t want to go in; and 2) in a separate take filmed sometime later, the dog did go into the water, on his own, and, at the end, his head is submerged for about 4 seconds. These two things are absolutely INEXCUSABLE and should NEVER have happened. The dog trainer should have stopped trying to get the dog to go in the water as soon as the dog seemed uncomfortable, and the trainers should have had support under the dog as soon as he came to the side of the pool and/or had less turbulence in the water so he never would have gone under. The American Humane Association (AHA) representative who is paid by the production to “ensure the safety and humane treatment of animal actors,” as its website states, should have also intervened immediately on both of those parts of the filming. So should have whomever was running the set. Those individuals should be held accountable and never used again by that studio or its affiliates.

I also hold myself accountable because, even though I was not present, I knew and had written about how ineffective AHA has been over the years. Its monitors have been present when bad things have happened to animals on sets, not offering enough protection to stop those events and displaying no real protest after they occurred. Though AHA is the standard guarantor of animal safety on all studio productions and I was not consulted when they nor the dog trainers were hired, I should have fought with the studio to come up with alternatives to serve those functions. I didn’t, and there is nothing to mitigate my inaction. I’m deeply sorry about that."

Full link

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gavin-polone-a-dogs-purpose-outcry-what-happened-whos-blame-967160

01/21/2017 The producer has supposedly seen the "original full video." That is impossible because that was someone's personal cellphone video. The producer could have only seen the professional video the cameraman shot from a different angle. Of course the cameraman is not going to be shooting when the animal is just getting used to the water. Cameraman would only film when they were ready to shoot it for the film.

The producer said that the dog was in the water earlier that day and was fine. They just wanted to shoot it from the other side. Dog was not trained to jump in the water on the other side. Dog got scared.

That story makes no sense. The trainer was trying to dip the dog in the water so he would realize the water is warm. That is on the audio on the video. If the dog had indeed been in the water earlier, he would have already known it was warm.  Dog also would have been wet and not dry.

Producer went on to say the dog was not physically harmed or killed. We realize that. Still, the dog was frightened. When I worked for AHA we had to make sure the animals were not frightened. They said dog chasing cats can't be induced by fear. They must train the animals to follow the other and make it appear to be chased. That dog was clearly frightened. Everyone admitted that. That is against AHA regulations. The dog doesn't have to die for it to be a violation of AHA regs or cruelty.

I think that was first time dog was getting into the water with the jets on. Why not put him in the water with the jets off then slowly turn them on so he can get used to it? If you look at the final cut, the dog jumps off a wooden ledge. There's no water in the pic. The next frame is from another angle with the dog going into the water. The dog did not jump into the water on the final film. I haven't seen the full movie, only the trailer.

The producer now asks the question "why didn't they take the video to the media 15 months ago when it was filmed? Why did they wait for the press junket?" The answer is clear. The dog was not injured or in danger of dying. There would be no reason to make it public instantly. PETA or whomever released the tape to TMZ a week before the opening of the film and press junket. The reason was to get full media attention on the issue. FTR I don't support everything PETA does. I'm against circus and zoo animals. I support sanctuaries. I think there can be some safe and humane exhibit of animals for education or positive media. This movie could have been that positive media. There was no reason to scare the dog like that.

They also should have tested the jets to see if the dog could get sucked under like he was. If you angle jets against a corner, it will cause animals, people to get sucked under. There's a place on some famous rapids where if you don't go straight through the middle, you will get sucked under and sucked to the bottom of the river. They can't even get the dead body out because the force of the swirling water keeps the body pressed to the rocks.

http://ew.com/movies/2017/01/20/dogs-purpose-author-additional-footage-paints-different-picture/

Here are the AHA guidelines.

"If any animal appears aggressive, stressed and/or charges, threatens or bites any
person or animal, it shall be removed immediately from the set and location."

https://www.americanhumane.org/app/uploads/2016/08/Guidelines2015-WEB-Revised-110315-1.pdf

01/19/2017 "There will be no premiere for "A Dog's Purpose" because the studio that produced it is still reeling from the video posted showing it's animal star in distress.

Amblin and Universal studios are still reviewing footage that syncs up with the video TMZ posted to determine what happened to Hercules when he clearly was recoiling as his trainer tried pulling him into the water. The studios say the dog is fine and was never abused.

The studios know lots of people are upset after seeing the video. The studios have also canceled the press junkets."

This is sad all the way around. I know the main producer, actors love animals and would never want to see them harmed. They hoped the movie would want to make people adopt pets from shelters which is why they teamed up with Best Friends. I hoped the same. I personally feel what happened with the dog on the second production team was the result of underlings just trying to get the shot no matter what. I don't know who is the guy holding the dog and trying to get him in the water. I don't think it's Bean because he looks different. It's also not the other animal trainer who looks different. No other animal trainers are credited in the film. Did they let anyone try to force the dog in the pool? If AHA was there, what went wrong? I was trained by them, worked for them for one day so I know that they don't really care about animals. Still, what went wrong here.

_________________

I will predict that nothing happens to the people involved.

"A Dog's Purpose" crew members are now under investigation by Canada's Chief Veterinary Office, and jail time is on the table if the agency finds any wrongdoing.
The CVO tells TMZ it received a formal complaint on Wednesday, and has begun looking into what went down on the set during filming in Winnipeg.
TMZ posted the video of Hercules, a German Shepherd, appearing terrified to get in churning water to shoot a scene for the movie. The trainer tried for about 40 seconds to put Hercules in the pool. The CVO says it wasn't involved with the filming, because a rep from the American Humane Association was on set. That rep, we've learned, has since been suspended.
The Office could levy a fine up to $10k and/or sentence offenders to up to 6 months in jail."

PETA confirmed that all the animals in the film came from Birds and Animals Unlimited in Acton, California. That is the website and Facebook page that has been shut down all day.

"The animal-rights group is targeting a specific animal supplier — Acton, CA-based Birds & Animals Unlimited.

According to PETA, a manager at BAU told its undercover investigator that they provided all the dogs for the film and Deadline confirmed this evening that BAU handled the dog in the video."

The producer stated this,

“I’m horrified by this,” said Polone. “The first thing I asked was, ‘Is the dog OK?’ He’s fine. But if I had seen that, I would have stopped it in a minute. People have to be held responsible for this. It was someone’s job to watch out for this kind of thing. Why didn’t they? This is something I’ve written about before, whether it be circus animals or animals on set. American Humane are supposed to be there supervising. That’s their job that someone is paid a lot of money to do. Why wasn’t this stopped? There needs to be a better system than this. That’s what I’ve called for in the past. I agree with PETA that they not only need to make sure animals are treated properly on set, but they also need to find out where the animals are kept outside of the set. To make sure they are treated properly at all times.”

"Animal Justice says it has filed complaints with the Winnipeg Humane Society, the Chief Veterinary Office of Manitoba, and the Winnipeg police department alleging violations of federal and provincial animal protection laws.

“Throwing a terrified German Shepherd into rushing water is blatant animal cruelty,” Camille Labchuk, a lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice, said in a news release.

“It is illegal to inflict suffering and anxiety onto animals, and there is no loophole that lets Hollywood moviemakers get away with abusing animals on a film set."

"Actor Josh Gad, who lends his voice to a dog in the film, issued a statement on Twitter saying he has asked the studio and production team for an explanation of what he calls "disturbing images."

He said that while the finished film is "one of the most beautiful love letters to animals I have ever seen," he was troubled by the video.

"I am shaken and sad to see any animal put in a situation against its will," Gad wrote. A publicist for the actor confirmed the post was authentic."

The scene is included in the movie. You can't use film where someone, an animal was harmed. That's law so people won't make snuff films or intentionally do a dangerous stunt. Below are a few frames from the trailers.

A Dog's Purpose, animal cruelty, dog, water, Birds and Animals Unlimited, Ray Beal, Raymond Beal, Canada, Animal Advocates

A Dog's Purpose, animal cruelty, dog, water, Birds and Animals Unlimited, Ray Beal, Raymond Beal, Canada, Animal Advocates
A Dog's Purpose, animal cruelty, dog, water, Birds and Animals Unlimited, Ray Beal, Raymond Beal, Canada, Animal Advocates

A Dog's Purpose, animal cruelty, dog, water, Birds and Animals Unlimited, Ray Beal, Raymond Beal, Canada, Animal Advocates
A Dog's Purpose, animal cruelty, dog, water, Birds and Animals Unlimited, Ray Beal, Raymond Beal, Canada, Animal Advocates
A Dog's Purpose, animal cruelty, dog, water, Birds and Animals Unlimited, Ray Beal, Raymond Beal, Canada, Animal Advocates

The producers just said that the dog "Hercules" was not forced to perform and he's fine. They stated the film "A DOG'S PURPOSE, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures, is a celebration of the special connection between humans and their dogs. And in the spirit of this relationship, the Amblin production team followed rigorous protocols to foster an ethical and safe environment for the animals.

While we continue to review the circumstances shown in the edited footage, Amblin is confident that great care and concern was shown for the German Shepherd Hercules, as well as for all of the other dogs featured throughout the production of the film. There were several days of rehearsal of the water scenes to ensure Hercules was comfortable with all of the stunts. On the day of the shoot, Hercules did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot.

Hercules is happy and healthy."

Sounds like bullshit to me.

Story gets worse! American Humane Association was on set monitoring the animal. The inspector said and did nothing! I was trained by AHA and worked for them for a day. They side with the filmmaker over the animals.

"The representative from the American Humane Association who was on the set of "A Dog's Purpose" has been suspended after officials saw video of a terrorized dog on set."

Disturbing video below showing an animal trainer forcing his dog into turbulent water who then goes under was posted on TMZ earlier today. The scene was part of the movie "A Dog's Purpose" which is coming out January 27, 2017.



The animal trainers listed for the film are Raymond Beal of Birds and Animals Unlimited and Brian Turi of Studio Animals. The film "A Dog's Purpose" partners with VCA and Best Friends. We sent a polite email asking about the footage to ir@vca.com ericr@bestfriends.org studioanimals@gmail.com California@birdsandanimals.com. We will post their reply when they reply. The man in the video does not look like Brian Turi. It looks like Ray Beal a little. He works with that type of dog. Here's a pic of him. I am not 100% positive that Ray is the person in the video. The person in the video appears to be balding and has red hair. Maybe it is the water safety person? I've asked all involved who it was but no response. Nonetheless the trainer and AHA person should have been watching out for the dog and not allowed that shot.

Ray Beal, Raymond Beal animal trainer "A Dog's Purpose" Birds and Animals Unlimited, california, cruelty, movie
This is from a behind the scenes of the movie. This is one of the handlers. It looks like Ray Beal. I wonder if the guy is the AHA person. We had to wear our shirts and hat on set. I worked for them for one day though went through a week of training.



Mary Cummins
of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.


Google+ Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, wildlife, wild, animal, rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitator, fish, game, los angeles, california, united states, squirrel, raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, manual, instructor, speaker, humane, nuisance, control, pest, trap, exclude, deter, green, non-profit, nonprofit, non, profit, ill, injured, orphaned, exhibit, exhibitor, usda, united states department of agriculture, hsus, humane society, peta, ndart, humane academy, humane officer, animal legal defense fund, animal cruelty, investigation, peace officer, animal, cruelty, abuse, neglect #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Nathan Winograd spends 100% of his time and donations NOT helping animals but himself

Nathan Winograd claims his non-profit No Kill Law and Advocacy Center's mission is "The No Kill Advocacy Center Is working to end the systematic killing of animals in shelters through direct assistance, education, litigation, legislation, advocacy, conferences, seminars, publications, studies, and more." His main programs are his annual conference which costs him $111K and brings in $82K. Another one of his "programs" is a "feature length film about himself." $21K in expenses, no revenue in 2013. He says he DIRECTLY helps shelters, rescue groups which costs him $79K with no revenue. He admits he's a lobbyist. How is he helping them directly when he  has no animal related expenses, costs? Telling a dog that PETA kills animals does not help dogs.

Nathan works 40 hours a week and makes $60,000/yr paid by donations to his non-profit. He lives off of his non-profit.


Nathan Winograd, income, salary, $60,000, year, No Kill Law and Advocacy Center

He pays $55K/yr for "professional programmatic services." WTH is that? Is this just a way to secretly funnel more money to himself? He claims he is an SPCA, humane society. No, he is not. He did not file as an SPCA. That is a completely different type of corporation. He's a lawyer and knows he's not a 10400 corporation i.e., "§ 10400. Formation; number and qualifications of organizers; articles of incorporation. Corporations for the prevention of cruelty to animals may be formed under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law (Part 2 (commencing with Section 5110)) by 20 or more persons, who shall be citizens and residents of this state. If the corporation is formed on or after January 1, 2011, its articles of incorporation shall specifically state that the corporation is being formed pursuant to this section."

He claims he provides direct assistance to animals, animal shelters and animal rescue groups. I don't see $1 spent on animal food, animal supplies, veterinary bills....nothing. He spends less to help animals than PETA, HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends... Who the hell is he to state they barely spend anything to help animals when he spends nothing, zero, zip?

Nathan Winograd has received $1,234,145 from the public from 2009 to 2013 yet he has not spent one penny on animals. Nathan tells people to follow the money and that is what I'm doing.


Below is first page of Nathan Winograd's 990 tax return for 2013 for his non-profit personal piggy bank No Kill Law and Advocacy Center. Obviously having a non-profit is more profitable to him than having a for-profit No Kill Solutions which he had to shut down because he was not making enough money. Notice Nathan is the accountant and did the books.
Nathan Winograd, 2013, 990, tax return, No Kill Law and Advocacy Center.

2013 990
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2013/201/648/2013-201648359-0a47c658-9.pdf

I went back two more years. Nathan has not spent anything on animals. How does he think yelling at PETA, HSUS, ASPCA helps animals? It doesn't. For people in the know he looks like an idiot. All the well respected organizations have no respect for Nathan Winograd who just rabble rouses. Cities, Counties definitely don't want to have anything to do with him after he's stabbed them in the back. There's a reason he was fired from SFSPCA besides mere breach of contract.

2012 990
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/201/648/2012-201648359-0900b1c2-9.pdf

2011 990. He spent $147K making a film about himself, $90K to host a conference to honor himself, $54K to help shelters, rescue groups by talking at them. No direct assistance with animals. He spent $291K and not one penny went to animals. He gave himself another $60K in salary. Every penny went to Nathan or to honor him. He made $165K in membership dues. People pay to join his group just to read his articles? He got $50K from people who registered for his conference where he praises himself. He had $55K in office expenses. He doesn't even have an office. He spent $90K for himself to go to other conferences and meetings. I think this was his book tour. He had $96K in professional services. Like what? I bet he shoveled more money to himself in this category.
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2011/201/648/2011-201648359-08254e04-9.pdf

Here is the history of Nathan Winograd when he was No Kill Solutions a for-profit consulting company that went under. I wrote these articles years ago and just reposted them here.

http://animaladvocatesmarycummins.blogspot.com/2014/11/nathan-winograd-no-kill-solutions.html

My personal history and interactions with Nathan Winograd dating back to 2005

http://animaladvocatesmarycummins.blogspot.com/2013/10/nathan-winograd-no-kill-solutions-no.html

Nathan Winograd the misinformation machine. His attacks against PETA, HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends are generally false.

http://animaladvocatesmarycummins.blogspot.com/2014/11/nathan-winograd-misinformation-machine.html

Here's a Nathan Winograd timeline I made when I tried to verify his claims.

http://animaladvocatesmarycummins.blogspot.com/2014/05/nathan-winograd-no-kill-solutions.html

Honest article about one of Nathan Winograd's presentations. I was there and can vouch for the crazy things he said. They are also directly quoted in his book. He really said that "cats are more likely to get rabies from humans than we are to get rabies from cats."

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/04/14/18644737.php

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.


Google+ Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, wildlife, wild, animal, rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitator, fish, game, los angeles, california, united states, squirrel, raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, manual, instructor, speaker, humane, nuisance, control, pest, trap, exclude, deter, green, non-profit, nonprofit, non, profit, ill, injured, orphaned, exhibit, exhibitor, usda, united states department of agriculture, hsus, humane society, peta, ndart, humane academy, humane officer, animal legal defense fund, animal cruelty, investigation, peace officer, animal, cruelty, abuse, neglect #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit