14 DAY TRIAL // Back in September, green-oriented organization PETA blamed the producers of “The Hobbit” for the death of three horses, which supposedly got injured and eventually passed away while on the set.
The news just broke that, according to several other environmentalists, “The Hobbit” did more than simply fail to properly look after said three horses.
Thus, it is now argued that this cinematic production must be linked to the death of as many as 27 animals.
Although it is true that none of these animals was killed while shooting various scenes from the movie, whistle-blowers in charge of looking after them say that the farm they were kept at when they were no longer needed on set did very little to meet their needs. Daily Mail reports that, according to these wanglers, the farm had several sinkholes and bluffs, and some even went as far as to call these hazards “death traps.”
The four whistle-blowers responsible for this new stir surrounding "The Hobbit" maintain that they tried talking to their superiors, but that nobody cared about what they had to say.
Speaking about one of the first animals to die, a miniature horse, trainer Chris Langridge said that, “When I arrived at work in the morning, the pony was still alive but his back was broken. He'd come off a bank at speed and crash-landed. He was in a bad state.”
Moreover, one other horse named Doofus somehow got caught in some wires and severely injured one of its legs. Another horse, Claire, died after having fallen over a bluff, handler Johnny Smythe says.
Peter Jackson, admitted that several horses, goats, chickens and even one sheep used in the making of “The Hobbit” died at a farm near Wellington, New Zealand, but claims that, for the most part, these deaths came as a result of natural causes.
Moreover, a spokesman for Peter Jackson wished to emphasize the fact that, as soon as the production company learned about the death of these animals, measures were taken so as to prevent such accidents from occurring again in the future.