PETA Ensures Dead Animals Aren’t Forgotten at ‘The Hobbit’ Premiere

Published by Michelle Reynolds.

If director Peter Jackson were hoping people would forget about the controversy surrounding The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at the film’s New York City premiere, he was in for a disappointment. Amidst the crowd that gathered to watch the cast and crew waltz into the Ziegfeld Theater were PETA members wearing horse masks and holding up signs that bore unmistakable reminders of the horses, chickens, goats, and sheep who reportedly lost their lives during production of The Hobbit.

© Jeffery Harmon

© Jeffery Harmon

In an age of strikingly realistic computer-generated imagery (CGI), there is no reason for animals even to be present on a movie set, and the deaths of animals during the making of a film is inexcusable. It isn’t as if Jackson didn’t know how to make a riveting blockbuster without using animals: He won a PETA Proggy Award (for progress) for the breathtaking CGI in King Kong.

PETA has asked New Zealand authorities to investigate the deaths that occurred during the making of The Hobbit. Meanwhile, you can help by e-mailing [email protected] to get leaflets and posters of your own, and hit your local theater to make sure that the film’s animal victims are not forgotten.

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 Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind

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