Gad, a 35-year-old actor and PETA supporter who was not on set during filming, said he'd been left 'sad' and 'shaken' by the 'disturbing' footage. Hallstrom said animals' safety was of utmost priority on all his films, and he has been promised a 'thorough investigation'Д«oth the film's director Lasse Hallstrom, and Josh Gad, who voices one of the main characters in the movie, took to Twitter yesterday to call for an investigation into the upsetting video. He also pointed out that 'there was no safe exit point for the dog to escape the turbulent water.'

Javier Schwersensky, the organization's chief executive, said: 'Training for a scene like this should take place weeks - if not months - in advance to help a dog get comfortable with not only being in water of that depth, but also the turbulence.' 'On the day of the shoot, Hercules did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot.'Д«ut the Winnipeg Humane Society, which was consulted for two scenes in the film, claimed Hercules was 'fearful and not properly trained for this experience'. 'There were several days of rehearsal of the water scenes to ensure Hercules was comfortable with all of the stunts,' the statement also read. The scene with the dog in the water was reportedly shot inВ Winnipeg, Canada in November 2015ДЄmblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures had earlier released a joint statement saying they are reviewing the footage, even though they are confident 'great care and concern was shown' for Hercules. The German ShepherdВ is one of five dogs used in the film A Dog's Purpose. '(The trainer) is going to end up going in with him.' He wants to get away, just throw him in,' the man can be heard saying as he laughs. 'He gets his feet wet, learns it's not cold. He ain't gonna calm down until he goes in the water,' the man said.ДЇootage showed the dog's paws briefly touching the water at one point, before the animal managed to claw his way out of the pool. The minute-long video caused outrage after it showed a man off camera laughing as the trainer repeatedly tried to persuade the dog into the water. 'While we are all disheartened by the appearance of an animal in distress, everyone has assured us that Hercules the German Shepherd was not harmed throughout the filmmaking.'

'Since the emergence of the footage, Amblin has engaged with many associated with the production of the film, including safety personnel, trainers and stunt coordinators as part of their in-depth review,' a statement from the film companies. While people questioned in the investigation have thus far said that the dog was treated humanely on set, the video is still troubling to watch.Footage obtained by TMZ shows a trainer physically forcing a German Shepherd into rushing water as the dog desperately tries to cling to the edge for an upcoming film A Dog's Purpose Reportedly, director Lasse HallstrГ¶m called for a break and when they returned Hercules felt okay with continuing. As the story currently goes, the companies promise that Hercules was not thrown into the water like it appears in the video, and that they did not shoot that scene while he was nervous. While we are all disheartened by the appearance of an animal in distress, everyone has assured us that Hercules the German Shepherd was not harmed throughout the filmmaking.ДЄn official investigation into the video is still underway, but Amblin and Universal are ensuring that Hercules is alright and was never harmed. Since the emergence of the footage, Amblin has engaged with many associated with the production of the film, including safety personnel, trainers and stunt coordinators as part of their in-depth review. Amblin and Universal do not want anything to overshadow this film that celebrates the relationship between humans and animals.

Here's their official statement on the matter:Д«ecause Amblin's review into the edited video released yesterday is still ongoing, distributor Universal Pictures has decided it is in the best interest of A Dog's Purpose to cancel this weekend's premiere and press junket. Due to the negative attention this has garnered the film, Universal and Amblin have opted to cancel the premiere so that the film is not overshadowed by the controversy. This comes right after the leaked video of Hercules the German Shepherd seemingly afraid to perform in a scene that involved swimming in artificial rapids and being thrown into the water. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles premiere of A Dog's Purpose has been cancelled ahead of the film's national release on January 27.

A dogs purpose cancelled