Animal abuse in the name of entertainment is not uncommon, including in the making of movies. Indeed, there is solid evidence that many animals are trained, or really "broken," to get them to do what's needed to perform in circuses, zoos, or in film. A recent example concerns Tia, the female elephant star in "Water For Elephants," who became an "emotional wreck" because of the abuse to which she was subjected in making this movie. Likewise, wolves were abused and killed in the making of the misleading and sensationalist movie "The Grey." Two wolves were actually trapped, killed, made into wolf stew, and eaten by some of the actors to get the cast in the mood for the wild.

Now, abuse in the name of entertainment has once again surfaced. It turns out that five horses, a pony, several goats, sheep, and chickens were allegedly maimed or killed in the making of "The Hobbit." And, a spokesman for "The Hobbit" admitted, "the deaths of two horses were avoidable ..." Here are some of the gory details:









This abuse in this and other movies is sickening and could have easily been avoided if the people making the films really cared about the well-being of the animals with whom they were working and who depended on their goodwill. Given the ready availability of computer-generated images as those used in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "Avatar," the continued use and abuse of live animals to make films is inexcusable.

Marc Bekoff, of Boulder, is the author of many books including "The emotional lives of animals," "Ignoring nature no more: The case for compassionate conservation," and "Jasper's story: Saving moon bears."