No Animals Were Harmed - All About Animal Actors

ANIMAL ACTORS: Interview with Sandi Buck, American Humane, Certified Animal Safety Representative

Q: What is the American Humane Film & TV Unit?

A: American Humane (AH) Film & TV Unit is based in Los Angeles and we monitor the use of animals in media. American Humane is a national organization with headquarters based in Denver, Colorado. I'm one of the Certified Animal Safety Representatives who go on set and monitor the use of animals in film and television. We award the "No Animals Were Harmed® in the Making of this Movie" disclaimer seen at the end of the credits in a movie.

Q: How did the American Film & TV Unit start?

A: Back in 1926, AH set up a committee to investigate abuses of animals in the movie industry. At that time, horses were the most at-risk animal actors. But, then, as now, animals have no inherent legal rights, so we couldn't mandate the safety of the animal actors. In 1939, for the film "Jesse James," a horse and rider were sent hurling over a 70-foot cliff into a raging river for an action shot. The stuntman was fine, but the horse's back was broken in the fall and it died. Outrage over this sparked a new relationship between AH and some motion picture directors and producers and caused the Hays Office to include humane treatment of animals in the Motion Picture Code. The following year, AH received authorization to monitor the production of movies using animals. We worked on set for quite a while after that until the Hays Office was disbanded in 1966, ending our jurisdiction and excluding us from sets. This was a pretty dismal time for animal actors who were being used in some brutal ways. Then, in the early 1980s, another incident caused another public outcry and American Humane was added to the agreement with SAG that mandated that union films contact us if they were using animals. This agreement now includes any filmed media form, including television, commercials, direct-to-video projects, and music videos. A more detailed history is on our website. Right now, we monitor about 900 films a year, maybe more. That's not counting commercials.

Q: Did you say animal actors no have legal rights?

A: That's correct. Animals have no "legal" rights in the sense that humans have. But because of our SAG agreement, animal actors in SAG films have "contractual" rights because the AH office must be contacted by productions using animals and an AH Film & TV Unit representative be on set during the filming.

Q: What about nonunion productions?

A: Nonunion productions are not contractually bound to contact us, but we find that a lot of people want us there anyway. I've worked with several productions that say - "We want you here. We want that rating at the end of our film and we want people to know what we had you on set."

Q: So people on set are happy to see you?

A: Generally yes, but sometimes no. Actors always love seeing us there. They look at the AH patches on my jacket and come up to me constantly on set and say - "Oh, you're here for the animals. That's so great, I'm so happy you're here." That's what we want. We want people to look for us, to know we're there, and why we're there. As for production, it depends on their perception of us and if they've worked with us in the past. People we've worked with before love having us there. The ones who haven't worked with us before sometimes think "oh, no, here comes the animal police to patrol us," like I'm going to stand there with my hands on my hips telling them what they can and can't do. It's not like that. We're not there to criticize. We're there to work with filmmakers, not against them. If we see a problem, we'll address it and work it out together. In Florida, for instance, one of the big concerns is heat. During one production, the producer wanted a dog to walk back and forth across the pavement. I told the director there was a problem with this. I already knew he didn't like having me on set, but I told him anyway, "You take off your shoes and walk across that street." He went out to the street, put his hand on the pavement, and said - "Yeah, you're right." He wasn't trying to harm the animal, he just wasn't thinking about the animal, the heat, and the pavement. That's part of the reason we're on set. We don't expect filmmakers to also be animal experts. Even producers who personally don't care about animals usually realize it makes sense for them to have us there. Many people say they won't watch a movie in which they think or have heard that an animal was injured or killed. People look for the AH disclaimer at the end of movies saying - "No Animals Were Harmed® in the Making of this Film."

Q: How do filmmakers get a "No Harm" disclaimer for their movies?

A: The process starts when production contacts our Los Angeles office to let us know that they plan to use animals. We direct them to our Guidelines which are available on the internet and we request their script. We review the script and arrange to come in and observe the animal action to ensure that the conditions in which the animals are working and kept is safe and comfortable. This doesn't cost the union production anything - that's part of the arrangement with the SAG office.