Sir Peter Jackson has hit back at PETA's claims that 27 animals died while filming his fantasy film The Hobbit, saying they should verify their sources.
Sir Peter Jackson has denied any animal
cruelty took place on The Hobbit set.
The legendary filmmaker and Warner Bros. producers insist PETA's allegations
about animals being mistreated while shooting the upcoming fantasy flick are
"unsubstantiated".
They hit back at reports that 27 animals - including horses, goats, chickens
and one sheep - died needlessly at a farm near Wellington, New Zealand because
of the poor conditions they were housed in, insisting PETA never
"properly" verified the claims made by four wranglers working on the
film.
Peter issued a statement reading: "The production regrets that PETA has
chosen to make such a serious accusation, which has distressed many of the
dedicated Kiwis who worked with animals on the films - including trainers,
wranglers, care-givers, farm workers and animal health care professionals -
without properly vetting the source from which they received this
information."
Warner Bros. added: "The producers completely reject the accusations that
twenty seven animals died due to mistreatment during the making of the films.
Extraordinary measures were taken to make sure that animals were not used
during action sequences or any other sequence that might create undue stress
for the animals involved. Over fifty five per cent of all shots using animals
in 'The Hobbit' are in fact computer generated.
"The American Humane Association (AHA) was on hand to monitor all use of
animals by the production. No animals died or were harmed on set during
filming... We regret that some of these accusations by wranglers who were
dismissed from the film over a year ago are only now being brought to our
attention."
However, the AHA admitted the deaths of two horses had been
"avoidable" earlier today after insisting the farm was no
longer in use by Warner Bros.
