Westside Olympia, WA
Refugees unlawfully detained in airports after Trump’s immigration executive order
- On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the nation’s refugee settlement program and barring immigrants from countries with “would-be terrorists,” namely Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
- The executive order went into immediate effect, meaning refugees on planes to the United States landed in a nation newly hostile to their presence.
- Though they were given permission to settle here by the U.S. State Department, after a long, complex vetting process, they are now being detained in U.S. airports, waiting for news of their fate. Read more.
It’s started. Publicize this. Do not be complacent. Do not say “Well, they’re only…”
A summary of recent “A Dog’s Purpose” news:
I don’t usually post drama and I know a lot of people stopped caring after the initial video, but I want to know all the facts and I figured I’d share them for anyone that just wants a summary. So here’s a summary list of updates and some facts so far that were “conveniently” left out of the video:
- Hercules was trained to jump on one side of the pool, but in the video he was on the other side. He “joyfully” jumped when he was returned to the original spot.
- There was a scuba diver in the water.
- There were two jets on opposite sides of the pool with calmer water in between. He briefly went under because he crossed the jet before the diver pushed him up.
- There are raised platforms under the water.
- There was a crew of safety people on the side not shown in the video.
- The producer believes “whomever cut the video and made it appear the dog was in danger and ‘probably sold it for money’ to fulfill’s PETA’s stated agenda of ensuring no animal is ever used on a TV or movie set again.“
- Lots of people/news questioning why the video wasn’t released for 15 months and why two clips were spliced together
- A reduced crew was there that day, not the full crew (but not sure why).
- We don’t know who the 3rd party investigator is.
- Saturday premier for the movie cancelled.
- PETA is calling for no animals to ever be used on set and to use CGI instead. Counter arguments say it would be cost-prohibitive. Some are saying the American Humane Association needs to be checked.
- Two released videos of Hercules from yesterday (since apparently some people think the dog died?) here and here (if second video leads you to a subscription, type in “Watch: ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ star Hercules - USA Today“ on google).
Anyway, at the moment, what I want to see is a statement from the handler/trainer on why he thought forcing Hercules in the water would make him want to jump (instead of reconditioning him on that side of the pool), to see the unedited video, who the 3rd independent party is that’s investigating the situation, and who waited 15 months to release an edited video and why they waited that long (there’s speculation it was PETA).
One news was told when the full investigation by the studio and the production company is over, the unedited video likely will be released to the public.
Bad Training Vs. Abuse
Because I’m tired of all the BS…
In light of the popular controversial topic of a GSD being forced in water has gotten the entire world lit up. After talking to a few of my trainer friends, I’ve come to a few conclusions:
1.) The video itself is strange, as if it was purposely filmed and edited. We get a few seconds of a dog, who is very adamant about not going into the water, and then literally the screen flips to the dog swimming (or some people claim “drowning”). The dog did not show any signs of abuse, stress definitely, but not abuse. In all honesty, the dog looked and acted like one of my own dogs when it’s bathtime. The trainer did not shove or brutally force the dog into the water. He did use a little force (hey, it’s a big dog) but it’s not as though he threw the dog into the water and was like #YOLO!
2.) The fact that PETA is supporting the boycott of the movie, and TMZ was behind the releasing of the video, I am SUPER skeptical of believing any BS they put out. If you are a PETA supporter, and you aren’t going to see the movie because the trainer allegedly “abused” the dog (and because PETA told you to), then you’ve been misled. PETA would rather euthanize that dog than have it be a pet, nevertheless a dog used for a movie. Seriously. PETA doesn’t care about animals (or your pets), no matter what heart-breaking story they manage to drudge up (like Sarah McLachlin’s commercial, dear god, don’t get me started on that).
Was the dog abused? Absolutely not. Was it bad training? Yes, yes it was. Anyone who has trained any animal should know this. The dog should have been desensitized to that situation, to learn that rushing water isn’t bad. And maybe it had. But one thing was clear, there was something about the situation, in that moment, that spooked the dog and caused him to not want to go into the water. I have many friends who have worked in the animal rescue industry, and even they state that they didn’t think the dog was being abused—next to the cases they saw everyday.
So before you decide to not see the movie because of a short clip you saw and the claims people are making, please stop and take a moment to think. Don’t let yourself get carried away and think, “Well if that were me–” because it wasn’t. You’re not a dog. And I see so many dogs in shitty situations because their owners can’t see or treat them like one.
Remember the story about a bison calf being put down because it was taken from it’s mother and herd–by TOURISTS who thought it was COLD? Just saying…
