PETA Statement: HBO Cannot Claim High Ground After Using Elephants in “Westworld”

For Immediate Release:
May 8, 2018

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

HBO and its producers cannot honestly claim any high ground or provide any assurances in this case. PETA wrote to the producers of HBO’s Silicon Valley about the use of an elephant from Have Trunk Will Travel in June 2016. As anyone who follows these issues knows, American Humane—which supports the use of bullhooks, now banned in California and elsewhere and the same weapon used on Tai and other elephants in the disturbing eyewitness footage—does not monitor off-set living conditions or preproduction training methods. Furthermore, its failure to keep animals safe has been well documented: It was on set when three horses died during the filming of the HBO series Luck and famously gave A Dog’s Purpose its “no animals were harmed” distinction, despite video footage showing a terrified dog who was forced into churning water. If the network truly cared about the well-being of animals, it would stop hiding behind a disgraced organization that supports outfits with sordid histories and end its use of wild animals, instead of responding to media inquiries with a statement designed to mislead the public.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.