DID YOU KNOW DEBUNKED - No Animals Harmed

Did you know the internet is full of lies?

Every SAG (Screen Actors Guild) production filmed in the US is required to give American Humane Association representatives full on-set access.  Based on what they find they give a variety of "No animals were harmed" ratings.

Disclaimer from the credits Casino Royale (rated as "Monitored: Outstanding")

Let's cover a few facts here first.  The AHA has trademarked the term "No animals were harmed during the making of this film" which allows them to stop people using the term without their authorisation.  It is the American Humane Association and monitors productions within the US (although international films have been known to invite AHA onto sets in foreign countries - such as Casino Royale (2006)) and then only SAG productions.  The AHA lists films on their site which contain the disclaimer without permission.  There guidelines can be downloaded in PDF format.

The amount of time that representatives spend on set is said to vary, some productions having someone on-set all the time, some rarely having a representative appear.  There have also been claims of cover ups by the AHA or that they ignored/allowed certain actions by bigger name directiors/productions.  There are also claims that an actor squashing a mosquito has had productions shut down.  I won't say the AHA is perfect, no organisation is, but that's another story.

Let's start with "as long as cameras weren't rolling" is completely false, as all on-set treatment is covered and that makes this did-you-know FALSE.  It seems like a misunderstanding of the facts that DO allow a production that had an animal death to get a "No animals harmed" disclaimer.

For a start, they have a range of ratings.  "Monitored: Outstanding" and "Monitored: Acceptable" are the most obvious and the ones people assumed is meant.

However, since July 2004, one of the ratings is "Monitored: Special Circumstances."  This rating is given in circumstances where "an accident, injury or death involving an animal occurred during the course of filming" and a "full investigation revealed that the incident was not a result of negligence or malice on the part of the production or animal suppliers."  Reality happens.  Animals are injured or die all the time, if it's not the result of mistreatment or negligence by the trainer or production, the film is deemed by the AHA as not having harmed the animal.

So, yes, animals can die on set and the film can still get a "No animals harmed" disclaimer.  But it has nothing to do with if the cameras were rolling or not.

~ DUG.