Life Of Pi tiger fitness instructor Michael Hackenberger has resigned after being charged with five counts of animal viciousness by the Ontario SPCA.
The allegations first emerged in December of 2015 after PETA posted a covert video clip online showing the Bowmanville Zoo owner defeating a young tiger 19 times.
Hackenberger provided the tiger for the hit 2012 movie The Life of Pi as well as additionally skilled pets for James Franco’s The Interview.
The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has lawful authority in pet well-being cases and also filed the costs after spending “substantial time examining the facility and talking to all involved.”
Hackenberger was discovered to have struck the male Siberian tiger, Uno, in the face as well as in other places on the body with a whip. This case caused the pet distress as he pushed his thumb into the pet’s eye.
The Life of Pi movie was first in the spotlight after its launch as inquiries arose over the treatment of the animal used to play Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger stranded on a life plethora with the primary personality in the film, Pi Patel.
At the time of its launch, The Hollywood Reporter investigated the film and also was revealed e-mails in which an American Humane Association asserted that the tiger nearly sank during the capturing of scenes within a gigantic water container. Director Ang Lee was stated to think about these occurrences “crashes”.
Source: Business of Cinema
NBC News