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“The Hobbit” Should Be Held Responsible for the Death of 3 Horses, PETA Says

The “no animals were harmed” label argued to often be just a hoax

Sep 13, 2012 07:00 GMT  ·  By
3 horses were killed while filming "The Hobbit," PETA argues
   3 horses were killed while filming "The Hobbit," PETA argues

Later today, animal rights activists working with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), together with Bob Barker (former “The Price Is Right” host) and Sam Simon (co-creator of “The Simpsons”) are to hold a news conference meant to discuss how animals are treated on movie sets.

Thus, they wish to draw the American Humane Association's (AHA, for short) attention towards one major issue: according to information leaked by so-called whistleblowers, several animals have been injured and even died whilst being used to shoot scenes from various movies.

Moreover, PETA goes as far as to state that the reason for which the AHA failed in dealing with these problems until now is that some of its employees have been significantly more courteous and friendly towards movie producers and directors than their job required.

Some of the movies PETA now wishes to go after are “The Killing Season,” “Killing Lincoln,” “The Lone Ranger,” and “The Hobbit.”

Whereas “The Killing Season,” “Killing Lincoln,” and “The Lone Ranger” are argued to only be responsible for placing animals in risky situation, without their suffering significant injuries as a result of this, the filming of “The Hobbit” supposedly resulted in the death of three horses.

As PETA explains, a recent newspaper article published in New Zealand argued that, whilst shooting various scenes for this cinematic production, one small horse got trampled by a larger one, one was improperly looked after and ended up falling from a cliff, and a third one died of health complications which could presumably be linked to an improper diet.

“Moviegoers can't rely on the assurance that 'no animals were harmed' if the very people standing on film sets to safeguard animals are the ones placing animals at risk,” stated Kathy Guillermo, presently employed as senior vice president for PETA.

Furthermore, “The reports of complicity and complacency that PETA has received suggest a broken system that must be fixed immediately, before one more animal is injured or killed.”