People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) today claims someone from the set of the upcoming Warner Bros film Speed Racer reported that one of the young chimpanzees used in the role of Chim Chim was beaten during filming. Now, PETA is officially asking other Hollywood insiders to take on the role of whistleblowers. the organization took out a full-page ad in today’s Variety calling on readers who witness or suspect animal abuse in the production of a movie to immediately report the incident to PETA via a special hotline number and/or website. The ad shows a dejected monkey dressed in human clothing and carries the tagline “Not Everyone Wants to Be Famous”. This week, Variety also ran an ad from the National Enquirer asking readers to report tips and gossip to the tabloid. See my previous:
PETA Asking Hollywood To Whistleblow
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Wouldn’t this be like reporting a drunk driver to MADD instead of the police? And if I see abuse outside of a Holly wood movie am I to report that to PETA as well, or would that only waste their time on something that would not generate publicity?
Well, clearly this raises a larger issue inasmuch as studio films are supposed to have an ASPCA staffer supervising any animal activity on set. If they’re not doing their jobs, that needs to be looked into.
On the other hand, it’s also possible that this unnamed set person on Speed Racer was either making stuff up or hugely exaggerating; this person could be a card-carrying PETA militant him or herself.
(BTW, I’m a vegetarian and a strong supporter of animal rights, but I’ll never give a dime to PETA because their views and tactics are beyond ridiculous.)
How about doing something that matters and reporting abuse to the ASPCA or another authority that can actually do something besides get spaced out celebrities to preach to you that following your biology like other mammals do is a crime against nature? BTW, this is coming from a vegetarian.
no need-a peta.
that’s just what we need on the set, people from an organization who’s leader doesn’t believe people should even be able to own cats and dogs as pets
Let’s make it so we can’t have any animals in movies or on tv at all!! that’s what it’ll lead to. already heading that way.
brought to you by the people who ruined the circus!!
I read something in the LA Times, front page story, a few years back about how the American Humane Association (the group that is supposed to police these movie sets; it’s not ASPCA) doesn’t do so and about how the person in charge was very cosy with the people she was supposed to be policing. Actually, AHA got their start as the animal abuse industry response to better groups like the Humane Society of the United States.
Regardless, animals don’t belong in movie sets; kudos to PETA for trying to protect them!
Kudos to PETA- this nonsense needs to stop. Chimps belong in the wild and not on movie sets.
It’s the American Humane Association that is supposed to watch out for animals on movie sets. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. They have no jurisdiction during training, transport or off the set. They have no enforcement or police powers. the absolute worst they can do is not give the “No animals harmed” disclaimer (although they can rate a movie “unacceptible” not that anyone would notice, since that rating only appears on their website, not in the movie.) To make matters worse, the AHA is paid by the movie company, so there is a conflict of interest in reporting any abuse.
Municipal governments, police, animal control, may have legal jurisdiction but they rarely, if ever, take action against animals used in entertainment. PETA is a good choice of an outside organization without economic ties to the entertainment industry, that will raise a fuss if there is mistreatment of animals. Often, because of lax and poorly enforced laws, the abuse that occurs may not be illegal, just abusive. Even an outside organzation raising a fuss is no guarantee that any legal action willb e taken agsint the abusers, but at least it makes the issue public – as PETA did with the abuses involved in the Speed Racer movie.
Chimpanzee babies are ripped from their mothers to be beaten, broken and used as “actors.” How in the world can anyone with a shred of human decency find fault with those trying to stop this abuse? Dr. Jane Goodall proved that chimpanzees are keenly intelligent and social beings. They have intricate social structures. Why does anyone find it amusing to see them dressed up in awful outfits and made to do stupid tricks? Abusing animals is humorous?
Anyone who believes a monkey in a dress is anything less than wonderful is a kook.
Wow! First, if you see and know the abuse you report to the cops. Second, you really, really, REALLY want Speed Racer to tank.
Many thanks, Ms. Finke for reporting this situation…when will we stop using animals for entertainment and profit and start treating them as God made them & intended them to be…w/ respect and awe of their intrinsic beauty & magnificence?
Hey, Hollywood, time to grow up and join us in the 21st century. CGI and other cool computer programs and gadgets are revolutionizing the industry and giving animals a break. Get creative ( I know you can do it, Hollywood!) and come up with story lines that don’t require the use of real animals.
No one in their right mind would see a movie using animals if they knew what goes on behind the scenes.
Time after time the American Humane Association has fallen short when animals have been endangered on the set. Speed Racer is just one example of many.
Apes and monkeys who are forced to perform have it particularly hard. Like the Speed Racer chimpanzee, they are beaten in order to make them do what the trainer wants. When they grow up and become too strong for humans to control, they’re carted off to zoos and backyard menageries where they spend the rest of their lives in cages.
If a child performer is being mistreated on the set, it is our responsibility to speak up about it because a child may not know how to. Animals who are forced to perform are no different–they can’t tell us they need help, so it is up to us to prevent others from abusing them. I applaud PETA for pursuing this–it shows how committed they are to protecting animals, even if it’s at the expense of bugging their Hollywood friends.
A hotline directly to PETA gets results! PETA is well known for their amazing results in halting animal abuse. Looking the other way, or simply complaining about a group you don’t like, does not stop animal abuse. Whistleblowing does! I say, good for those who report any animal abuse they witness to PETA, and good for PETA for trying to put a stop to the abuse.
Does this constitute spanking the monkey?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
How come no one ever protests the millions of vegetables that are forcibly ripped from the ground? Poor fruits plucked in their prime just because they’re considered “ripe”. Don’t even get me started with the flower industry. A whole industry that thrives by severing living things merely for our visceral enjoyment. It makes me sick.
Anyone else hungry for a nice steak? Peta talk always gets me in the mood.
PETA never says that people should not own animals as pets. There is an overpopulation crisis going on in our counrty. I work with a rescue group and our local Animal Shelter kills 40-50 adoptable animals PER DAY because there is not enough space at the shelter or enough homes for these animals. Our rescue group is always over max capacity.
On their website they address this question:
““Does PETA believe that people shouldn’t have pets?”
“The earliest fossils that resemble the bones of modern dogs are about 12,000 years old, so we know that humans’ fascination with domesticated wolves began at least that long ago. About 5,000 years ago, Egyptians became the first to tame cats, whom they used to control the rodent population. Since then, the breeding and care of cats and dogs has exploded into a love affair, a sport, and a booming business. This international pastime has created an overpopulation crisis, and as a result, every year, millions of unwanted animals suffer at the hands of abusers, languish in shelters, and are euthanized. Adopting a cat or dog from a shelter and providing a loving home is a small but powerful way to prevent some of this suffering. The most important thing that animal guardians can do is to spay or neuter their animals and avoid buying animals from breeders or pet stores, which contribute to the overpopulation crisis. ”
They indicate that adopting a cat or dog from a shelter and providing a loving home is one way to help end animal suffering.
Peta is an organization that has done A LOT for animals and animal rights. Please visit their website to see how they help make the world better for all animals.
I have seen tape of the leader of peta speaking about how animals should not be able to be owned or had as pets. it’s been on the net a while and also appeared in an episode of penn and teller’s B.S. check for yourself!
its not the agenda on the flyers of course, people would recognize them as the lunatics they are, but it seems quite likely it could be part of their covert endgame.
i’m just sayin’ i’ve worked with many different kinds of animals on sets many different times and never seen anything close to abuse, in fact it’s quite the opposite, people go way out of the way to make sure it’s all good for them. I would think sometimes these claims get overblown by overzealous people. Did it happen in the 70’s and 80’s (and prior), yes, i’ve heard first hand accounts, more than a few. does it happen now? highly unlikely in the u.s. i would say.
Before you laud PETA remember their shelters are kill shelters. Look up how many healthy, adoptable animals they killed after Katrina. While they may have changed their website, it used to say that owning cats and dogs was wrong. But, that was before they started getting celebrities posing with their animals to do ads for them.
Am I the only one who sees the irony of PETA dressing a monkey up in a dress for their anti-exploitation ad?
Maybe I’m being unfair. I guess it’s possible the chimp used sign language to give his informed consent.
I’ve seen PETA lie about other things. They make preposterous claims to get attention, nothing more, nothing less, and usually the claims they make are false.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/23/EDG11DC9BK1.DTL
Yes, PETA dresses a chimp in a dress and does who knows what to create the dejected look on the poor creature’s face. Then, the use the image in an ad designed to generate contributions to their efforts. But somehow this isn’t abuse?
Stop using animals for entertainment!!!! it’s so NOT amusing!!! It makes me sick to my stomach. Is this 1808 or 2008???? With everything we now know about animals and their capacity for pain and love and fear? dear god!!! What the fu*k??? only an ignorant hick from the back woods of Kentucky with a 6th grade education should laugh when seeing an animal perform tricks or dressed up in human clothes (hear that Paris Hilton and your retarded ilk who insit on dressing up your pets as human babies – you walking frikkin’ nit wit). EVERYONE IS SOOOOOOOOOO STUPID AND IGNORANT!!!!
maybe the chimp is sad since it’s not the dress he was promised he would get to wear at the shoot!