Saskatoon charity cancels screening amid dog movie controversy

A Saskatoon dog rescue group has been caught in the controversy surrounding the film A Dog's Purpose — but it looks like it won't take a financial hit.

New Hope Dog Rescue had been planning a preview screening of the Hollywood movie as a fundraiser in partnership with students from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. Now that screening has been cancelled.

The organization had paid a $1,500 deposit to Cineplex on Jan. 17, one day before video footage of a dog on the film's set sparked outrage. 

The video shows what looks like a distressed German shepherd being forced into turbulent water during shooting of the movie in Winnipeg.

Several people posted on the dog rescue group's Facebook page, calling for them to boycott the movie and cancel its event.

New Hope Dog Rescue spokeswoman Alix Tumback said Thursday that the group was worried it wouldn't be able to get its deposit back, so they decided to go ahead with the screening.

But on Friday, Cineplex said it is waiving cancellation fees for any groups that had booked a preview screening.

Cineplex spokeswoman Sarah Van Lange said New Hope Dog Rescue need not worry about losing money if it cancels.

After that, the Saskatoon screening was cancelled.

Animal cruelty complaints

Meanwhile, the film's producer, Amblin Entertainment, and distributor, Universal Pictures, say they are confident that "great care and concern was shown" for the dog, which they say had rehearsed the stunt for several days.

Toronto-based Animal Justice has filed animal cruelty complaints over the footage.

The American Humane society has also launched an investigation and says it has suspended its safety representative who worked on the film, while the movie's director, Lasse Hallstrom, says he's been promised any wrongdoing will be punished.

"We at first were quite appalled at what was in the video," Tumback told CKOM before Cineplex announced the fees would be waived. "But we have to wait for the facts to come out."

Several of the rescue's supporters had already cancelled their tickets for the viewing, saying they couldn't watch the film after seeing the controversial video.

Tumback said she understood why someone would choose not to go.

"Animal love is a challenging one to work with; it's something people are pretty passionate about."