After PETA just filed formal complaints about horse abuse and neglect on the set of the HBO show Luck, we've placed this graphic ad in the Los Angeles Times:

Image:(c) iStockphoto.com/Eric Isselee

Like all other animals, horses don't want to be "actors," and they are often subjected to stressful and dangerous situations during the production of films, ads, and TV shows. The American Humane Association (AHA), the organization responsible for overseeing how animals are cared for on the set, is funded by the Screen Actors Guild—part of the same industry that it monitors. The AHA rarely, if ever, files formal complaints when animals are abused.

We hope our ad encourages producers and directors to protect horses by calling, "Cut!" on using them in films and television.

Just a month after HBO canceled Luck amid protests over the deaths of three horses, a whistleblower has released to PETA startling documents alleging abuse far beyond what anybody had guessed—and much worse than HBO or producers David Milch and Michael Mann ever admitted. See the full story in The Washington Post.

Among the information that the whistleblower released was this heartbreaking photograph, which allegedly shows the body of Marc's Shadow, the 8-year-old arthritic thoroughbred whose leg fractured when he was being filmed in a racing sequence:

The documents, which are e-mails, notes, and complaints from the American Humane Association (AHA) representatives on the set, paint a picture of drugging, deception, and neglect. The following are among the allegations:

• To save money, horses were underfed. One horse was an alarming 300 pounds underweight. Trainer Matt Chew proposed to cover the protruding ribs of another horse with a blanket during filming.
• Horses who were sick were still used in filming.
• Some sick horses disappeared from the set without explanation, and the trainer was warned that he could be charged with neglect.
• Improperly trained, unprepared horses were used in racing sequences, endangering the horses and jockeys.
• Horses were regularly drugged, including being tranquilized in order to keep them docile.
• The trainer attempted to deceive humane officers by providing false names for horses, apparently to keep the humane officers from finding out that the horses were unfit for running the "races" required for filming.

The situation was so dangerous for the horses on the Luck set, the documents allege, that AHA-hired humane officers urged AHA executives to recommend the dismissal of trainer Matt Chew. However, there's no evidence that the AHA acted on its officers' advice.

PETA has presented this new evidence of abuse to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and renewed our request for an independent investigation. We will keep you updated.

UPDATE:

Horses and people who care about them can rest a little easier tonight. HBO has announced that it is canceling Luck and ceasing all production on the series!

Even before filming on Luck started, PETA contacted David Milch, Michael Mann, and others associated with the production to suggest ways to protect horses, including the use of stock racing footage instead of using live animals. After the first two horses died—and the producers began stonewalling—PETA revealed the deaths publicly and obtained information from whistleblowers as well as necropsy reports from the racing board, which led to the disclosure that older, arthritic horses had been used in dangerous (and deadly) racing sequences and that the horses appeared not to have been provided with adequate protection. Beyond keeping the horses' plight in the public eye, PETA has also pressed law enforcement to investigate the deaths of the horses used on the set and to bring charges as appropriate.

A huge debt of gratitude is owed to the whistleblowers who refused to let these horses' deaths go unnoticed. If Milch, Mann, and HBO ever decide to start the series up again, PETA will again be calling on them to use stock footage, rather than putting horses' lives at risk.

Just one day after PETA sent a complaint to Los Angeles law enforcement urging the agency to investigate the deaths of two horses during the filming of the first season of HBO's Luck, we have learned that another horse has died on the set. Insiders at Santa Anita Race Track, where the racing scenes are filmed, called us early Tuesday and tipped us off. Now HBO has confirmed it.

But don't expect HBO or executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann to come clean about who the horse was and what condition he was in. They refused to tell us anything about the first two horses, so with the help of caring whistleblowers, we unearthed the disturbing evidence ourselves: One horse was drugged, and the other was arthritic and hadn't raced in years. Neither one should have been anywhere near a racetrack.

Photo: tasweertaker | cc by 2.0

Drugs and Unfit Horses

Both were retired racehorses who wouldn't understand that when they went through the starting gate on a racetrack, it was just for a TV show and not a real race. Outlaw Yodeler was a 5-year-old thoroughbred who hadn't raced in months and was apparently so sore that he was given a potent cocktail of muscle relaxant and anti-inflammatory and painkilling drugs, including Butorphanol, a painkiller so strong that it's often used as an analgesic for horses undergoing some kinds of surgery. The other horse, whose name we believe is Marc's Shadow, was 8 years old and arthritic and had not raced in nearly four years.

Both horses were "raced" twice in one day—something even fit thoroughbreds would never be subjected to. Healthy racehorses need at least a week to recover from the stress of competition. Indeed, they aren't even exercised twice in one day. Both horses on the set of Luck broke down after the second run. Their leg fractures were so violent that their bones shattered under the pressure. We think—and we hope law enforcement agrees—that the way in which the horses were treated by the production company, the trainer, and the veterinarian warrants a swift and thorough investigation before yet another horse dies.

Human affection for horses unfortunately makes them popular subjects for the film industry. Horses may grab our attention, but these animals are not willing participants in the entertainment industry.

Director Cameron Crowe is getting an earful from world-famous primatologist Dr. Iqbal Malik, who sent a letter on PETA's behalf to the director of the upcoming film We Bought a Zoo, asking him to stop using animals in films.

© edelmar/ iStockPhoto.com

Despite being made aware of the suffering endured behind the scenes by performing primates, Crowe has made jokes about Crystal, a capuchin monkey used in the film. But there's nothing funny about ripping primates away from their protective mothers shortly after birth so that they can be trained to perform tricks. These highly social animals suffer from debilitating loneliness and depression when isolated from other monkeys as they typically are in the entertainment industry. In the letter, Dr. Malik asks Crowe to remember that "as 'performing' monkeys grow older, become sick, or are no longer useful to their trainers, most are discarded or sold into the pet trade."

As the astonishingly realistic computer-generated primates in Rise of the Planet of the Apes prove, directors have no excuse for playing a role in subjecting animals to a life of confinement and loneliness.

Go buy a ticket to Rise of the Planet of the Apes—I promise that you'll be glued to your seat.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor