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American Humane Association's History of Protection and information on AHA's Film Unit

(reprinted by permission of AHA's Film Unit)

Protecting Animals in Film and Television

In the 1939 film "Jesse James," a horse and rider jumped off a cliff into a raging river. The rider lost his hat; the horse lost his life. Shortly after that needlessly tragic episode, American Humane Association responded to the public outcry by spearheading an effort to protect all animals in film. AHA opened its Los Angeles office in 1940 to coordinate ongoing advocacy to protect animal actors.

American Humane Association's Western Regional Office, is still the center of operations for AHA's Film and Television Unit. In 1980 the entertainment industry entrusted AHA with the sole authority to protect animals used in film and television through a contract with the Screen Actors Guild. We prevent mistreatment of animal actors by reviewing scripts and working with trainers and producers prior to production and by being present on sets when significant animal activity takes place. This past year, our representatives monitored more than 850 productions across the United States and in Mexico, Canada, the UK, Italy, South Africa and Germany. When filming outside the Continental US, just contact AHA for how to work with our International Monitoring Program.

While on the set, AHA not only inspects facilities where the animals are housed and cared for during the production, but also examines the props and sets to ensure that the well-being of each animal remains the top priority. AHA field reps follow a set of comprehensive Guidelines covering the wide array of production concerns (including explosives, costumes, stunts and rigging) that could affect animals working on film and television sets.

The most critical work, however, is done before the cameras ever roll. AHA works closely with trainers and producers to analyze and plan all the animal action during pre-production. We ensure that stunts, safety measures, camera angles, special effects, and even lighting, make-up and costumes for animal actors receive the same planning and consideration as for human stars.

Once filming ends, AHA writes Reviews describing how the animal action was accomplished, and rates each production based exclusively on the treatment of the animals. Those productions rated "Acceptable" qualify for the official end-credit Disclaimer which only AHA is sanctioned to award. Ratings and Disclaimers are nationally published for public awareness.

Guidelines for Protection of All Animals in Film

American Humane Association’s role is to prevent cruelty to the animal actors that perform in films and television. Additionally, AHA advocates that all productions meet the industry endorsed high standard of care as outlined in the Guidelines and Procedures.
American Humane Association is the only organization authorized by the entertainment industry to monitor the treatment of animals in film and television. The Film and TV Unit based in Los Angeles, covers productions throughout the United States, as well as American productions that are filming abroad.
Producers are obligated to notify AHA in advance if animals will be used in their production. This means notifying the Film and TV Unit based in Los Angeles, regardless of where the filming will occur.

Call locally: 818-501-0123 or our Animal Abuse Hotline: 1-800-677-3420

American Humane Association is the only organization authorized to give a feature or television production an official stamp of approval (end credit disclaimer) with respect to the humane care and treatment of animals.
American Humane Association does not charge for its services within the Continental United States.

Basic Principles

No animal will be killed or injured for the sake of a film production.
If an animal must be treated inhumanely to perform, then that animal should not be used.
Animals are NOT props! If an animal is used off camera as background or to attract the attention of an animal being filmed, the same humane guidelines must apply to that animal.
"Animal" means all sentient creatures including birds, fish, reptiles and insects.
Full version of Guidelines and Procedures is available in Portable Document Format (PDF). PDF files are compact, cross platform and can be viewed by anyone with a free Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat (R), please download by pressing Acrobat icon below.

Guidelines and Procedures Brochure (PDF: 158KB)

If you would like more information about AHA's Film Unit, click on link below

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