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 Energy 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 came about 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 impartial necropsy has confirmed that the horse died of cardiac failure.”

In line with Deadline, greater than 30 horses have been getting used on the present that day. The animals have been provided by The Satan’s Horsemen, a family-run firm that has supplied horses and carriages for the movie and TV business for over 50 years, together with for reveals equivalent to Recreation of Thrones and The Crown. That is the primary recognized horse demise to occur on set within the firm’s historical past.

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

“It appears that 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 susceptible horses to demise on set,” PETA senior vp Lisa Lange stated in a press release (by way of Selection).

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 will’t keep away from exploiting animals for his or her artwork, they need to discover a new medium as a result of nobody needs to see a by-product for TV with torment because the theme.”

This comes slightly below a yr since PETA launched an analogous assertion after the demise of a horse on the set of HBO’s The Gilded Age. On the time, the cable community acknowledged that the animal “seemingly died of pure causes, in keeping with a veterinarian’s preliminary findings.”