A horse died last week during the recording of the series “The Rings of Power”, a prequel to the saga “The Lord of the Rings”, which led the animal defense organization PETA to condemn the production, recommending the use of technology.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that a production horse died on March 21,” said a spokesman for Amazon Studios, producer of the series, in a statement cited by Deadline, a Hollywood news portal. According to the same press release, the animal suffered a heart attack “in the morning”, when “filming had not yet started and the horse was exercising before rehearsals”.
Both a veterinarian and a representative from the American Humane Association were present at the time, the company continues, adding that “independent autopsy confirmed that the horse died of heart failure.”
According to sources contacted by Deadline, more than 30 horses participated in the filming that day, since, according to the Daily Mail, scenes of a battle were going to be recorded.
PETA, which is against the use of animals in the recordings of the series, recalled that there is the possibility of using CGI — computer generated images —, mechanical platforms or other methods to avoid the suffering of the horse.
PETA calls on the creators of the series, and all other producers, to make a new discovery without using real horses”, referring to the theme of the saga. “If they cannot avoid exploiting animals for their art, they must find a new medium, because nobody wants to see a television spin-off with torment as a theme,” assumes the vice president of the organization in a statement published on the website of the organization.
And he used this incident to appeal, in a post on the twitterto all film productions to stop using real horses in the filming.
Is that why all productions should stop using horses????
A horse went into cardiac arrest and DIED on the set of @LOTRonPrime. Help us prevent more deaths like this by going to their page and leaving a comment urging producers to STOP using live horses and to commit to using only CGI and… pic.twitter.com/DuQaLg1Ags
— PETA (@peta) March 27, 2023
The non-profit organization remembers other films where there was animal abuse, such as “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”, also from the Lord of the Rings saga. Director Peter Jackson had come under fire for the events, having denied what he described as “unfounded” allegations, according to Sky News.
The first season of the series “The Rings of Power”, from the saga “The Lord of the Rings”, arrived in Portugal in September last year.
Source: Observadora
