Industry News
Amazon Prime Video has canceled ‘The Pack’, a reality TV show hosted by Lindsey Vonn, after leaked behind the scenes videos were condemned by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). The show’s producers claim there is no connection between PETA’s involvement and the canceling of the show, rather the global pandemic negatively affected filming.
The Amazing Race style competition saw pet owners and their dogs traveling around the world and competing in challenges. The winners took home $500,000 and a $250,000 donation to the animal charity of their choice.
The videos, which were cut from the aired show, showed the human-dog teams rappelling down the 108-foot Los Campesinos Falls in Costa Rica, including “footage of a dog dangling in midair from someone’s harness and paddling in a futile effort to gain his footing before getting swung into a rock face,” wrote PETA.
A letter, obtained by The Wrap and seen below, was sent to Amazon’s head of unscripted programming by PETA.
Dear Chris,
We were alerted to this video of a senior dog dangling from someone’s harness and paddling in a futile effort to gain his footing before getting swung into a rock face, evidently during the filming of “The Pack.”
Nothing about this dog says “happy to be here.” He seems worried, and being attached to a climber ascending a rock face would obviously be terrifying for animals, rather than a “fun and exciting” way of “celebrating their incredible bond” with humans. The incident establishes exactly why real dogs and other animals don’t belong in films or on TV as well as the way their safety and well-being are sacrificed for ratings.
We’re hoping to hear that Amazon will find out why this situation was allowed to occur and put in place measures to ensure that nothing similar happens again for future programming.
May we please hear from you right away? Thank you for your immediate attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Lauren Thomasson
Senior Manager | Animals in Film & Television
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Cancel culture will never be satisfied. Never appease them.