PETA Responds After Horse Dies on Set of ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy’

Animal rights group PETA has criticized Prime Video‘s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power after a horse died on the set of the fantasy tv sequence.

Amazon Studios confirmed on Sunday (March 26) morning {that a} horse suffered a cardiac arrest on March 21 earlier than rehearsals.

“The incident passed off within the morning while the horse was being exercised previous to rehearsals,” an Amazon spokesperson stated. “The coach was not in costume and filming had but to begin. Each a veterinarian and a consultant of the American Humane Affiliation have been current on the time. The unbiased necropsy has confirmed that the horse died of cardiac failure.”

In response to Deadline, greater than 30 horses have been getting used on the present that day. The animals have been provided by The Devil’s Horsemen, a family-run firm that has offered horses and carriages for the movie and TV business for over 50 years, together with for exhibits akin to Game of Thrones and The Crown. That is the primary recognized horse loss of life to occur on set within the firm’s historical past.

Following the information of the horse’s loss of life, the Folks for the Moral Therapy of Animals (PETA) launched a press release urging manufacturing firms to cease utilizing actual horses on set.

“Evidently residing underground with the orcs is par for the course for the producers of The Rings of Power as a result of they’ve the choice to make use of CGI, mechanical rigs and different humane strategies that wouldn’t run weak horses to loss of life on set,” PETA senior vp Lisa Lange stated in a press release (by way of Variety).

She continued, “PETA is asking on the present’s creators — and all different producers — to tackle a brand new quest with out utilizing any actual horses. If they’ll’t keep away from exploiting animals for his or her artwork, they need to discover a new medium as a result of nobody desires to see a derivative for TV with torment because the theme.”

This comes just below a yr since PETA launched a similar statement after the loss of life of a horse on the set of HBO’s The Gilded Age. On the time, the cable community said that the animal “doubtless died of pure causes, in response to a veterinarian’s preliminary findings.”