Author's note: This is an update to a blog first published Jan. 27 to include the results of a third-party investigation into animal cruelty allegations on the set of A Dog's Purpose.
There is nothing as destructive - with apologies to hurricanes, earthquakes and salmonella at a wedding reception - than a social media vigilante crowd armed with partial facts.
Witness the uproar over the leaked video from the filming of A Dog’s Purpose in Manitoba.
TMZ published the grainy video with the headline: “A Dog’s Purpose terrified German shepherd forced into turbulent water.”
It quickly circulated on social media, racking up shares as quickly as hastily jumped to opinions. A video on YouTube was clicked almost 9 million times.
Many comments I read on my social media feeds came from people who said they couldn’t bring themselves to watch the video. BUT THEY HAD AN OPINION ANYWAY.
And they weren’t going to see the movie.
What?
What I saw when I watched the video was a patient and reassuring handler working with a dog as it scrambled out of the pool of rushing, turbulent water a number of times. Yes, this is something that would surely be frightening to the dog. But professional trainers know how to train an animal to do things they wouldn’t naturally do for the sake of movies and TV.
And to be honest, my wrestling matches with dogs trying to get them into a bathtub wouldn’t look much different.
The dog named Hercules was not harmed and there was someone in the pool to pull him out. Any movie involving filming with animals is required to allow an independent animal welfare investigator on set to make sure they are treated properly.
In this case, the video led to an independent, third-party investigation conducted by a respected animal cruelty expert that concluded the dog was treated with "great care, attentiveness and respect" and the "video was deliberately edited for the purpose of misleading the public and stoking outrage."
It sure worked.
The premiere was cancelled, animal lovers vowed not to see the film and many animal rights groups cancelled fundraisers planned around the movie’s opening.
But those jumping to conclusions should have seen the red flags.
The video clearly included a cut in the middle and there was no way to know what transpired in that section. The book's author, the producer and the director all quickly came out to say the video did not accurately depict what happened on the set and that the dog was never in distress.
The second and much more glaring problem: why would someone supposedly interested in the welfare of animals wait until the trailers for the film were released to leak a video that was shot in 2015? It was clearly a calculated smear campaign by someone with an ax to grind that was then manipulated by animal rights extremists who are primarily motivated by getting attention for themselves.
This witch hunt overshadowed the beauty of books and now a movie dedicated to the loving wonders that are dogs. The novels by W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog’s Purpose and its sequel, a Dog’s Journey, absolutely made me fall in love even more with my three dogs.
The damage has been done this time but we can only hope the next time more people will think twice before allowing themselves to be manipulated by those with an agenda to twist the truth.