Investigation in to “A Dog’s Purpose” finds no animals harmed in making of film

According to the American Humane Association, an independent investigation in to the film shot in Manitoba shows no animals were harmed in the making of “A Dog’s Purpose.”

In January, a video from the set of the film was released to TMZ. In it, a German shepherd appears to be reluctant as it’s being pushed in to a pool full of fast flowing water. The video shows a dog appearing to be in distress.

READ MORE: Animal cruelty investigation launched into Manitoba filmed movie ‘A Dog’s Purpose’

According to the American Humane Association, an independent, third-party investigation conducted by a respected animal cruelty expert showed that an edited video completely mischaracterized the events portrayed in the video on set.

“The decisions by the individual or individuals who captured and deliberately edited the footage, and then waited longer than 15 months to release the manipulated video only days before the movie’s premier, raise serious questions about their motives and ethics,” the American Humane Association said in a release.

The statement from the animal welfare organization said the report brought a few other facts to light.

It said, the video was deliberately edited for the purpose of misleading the public and stoking outrage.

“In fact, the two scenes shown in the edited video were filmed at different times,” the statement read.

The report did, however, find that the dog was momentarily stressed. Adding that American Humane believed that the handling of the dog in the first scene in the video should have been gentler and signs of stress recognized earlier.