People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has accused commercial trainers Atlanta Film Animals (AFA) of poor treatment of animals it uses for films and TV shows including ABC crime procedural “Will Trent.”
PETA had a person work for AFA who surreptitiously recorded an AFA worker admitting to restricting food from cats used by “Will Trent,” saying that if they aren’t “hungry,” they’re “not gonna work.”
The nonprofit animal rights group also said it has video showing workers keeping animals in cold, barren cages and denying sick animals veterinary care.
“It’s deprivation and constant confinement,” said Debbie Metzler, director of captive animal welfare for PETA, in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We urge movies and studios and networks to reconsider using commercial suppliers like this.”
PETA filed a Feb. 21 complaint against AFA with the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service “takes all animal welfare related complaints very seriously. Per our standard process, we are reviewing the concern(s),” a Department of Agriculture spokesman said in an email. A December, 2022 inspection report of AFA by the agency revealed some minor issues that AFA quickly fixed.
AFA, which is a branch of a Hollywood-based company Birds & Animals Unlimited, did not respond to a query from the AJC but did release a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story. PETA’s work, AFA said, is part of “an ongoing effort to discredit animal professionals who work in TV and film,” adding, “we welcome any licensed animal welfare organization to visit our facility at any time.” It said it has requested the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to inspect them at will.
AFA also denied PETA accusations that it failed to provide dogs proper bedding or heated housing and denied pigs adequate medical treatment who had overgrown hooves. AFA said its employees saw the PETA operative “withholding the prescribed medication” from the pigs.
PETA said its spy did not deny medicine while working at AFA for 17 days this past December and January.
He also did not scrutinize the popular “Will Trent” dog Belle, who is called Betty on the show.
A spokesperson for “Will Trent” didn’t respond to an AJC query about the accusations and its use of AFA.
AFA, which has a 68-acre ranch, on its website said “most of the animals that we use come from rescues. ... Atlanta Film Animals actually owns 90% of the animals that we train. That means that those animals have a home and healthcare for life. Our trainers are animal lovers first and animal professionals second, because none of us ever considered a career that didn’t include animals..”
Among AFA’s credits are 2019′s live-action Disney film “The Lady and the Tramp,” 2023 Netflix film “Dog Gone,” CBS’s short-lived 2023 drama “True Lies,” ABC reboot “The Wonder Years” and “Will Trent,” which is currently in its second season.
Metzler of PETA suggested producers use actual pets when they can or create animals via CGI and other special effects. “They’ve been using more CGI for wild animals, which is good,” she said.
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