ITV program'The Door' Disgraceful misuse of German Shepherds on ITV - Page 1

I am posting this in the hopes that enough people will act by complaining to Ofcom and ITV about the appalling misuse of GSD's and how they were used to frighten and intimadate contestants on a recent ITV game show The Door.

At 9pm ITN screened a new program hosted by Chris Tarrant called The Door
A clip from this program was featured on This Morning:


http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/showbiz/christarrant/

German Shepherds are caged supposedly hungry and described by Tarrant as rancid and savage. Celebrities then crawl in between the cages with pieces of raw meat attached to themselves.
This cause great distress to the dogs and makes them appear aggressive - all in the name of entertainment.
With so much in the press at the moment about dangerous dogs, this is totally inappropriate material for TV

The program makers have committed a section 4 offence under the Animal Welfare act and should be prosecuted:
PLEASE WILL ALL GSD LOVERS AND LOVERS OF ALL ANIMALS COMPLAIN TO OFCOM AND ITV to ensure that animals are not ever used in this way again

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/progs/

viewerservices@itv.com 

Please email them NOW    Thank you for your support for  our beloved GSD who once again has been shown in a less then favourable light.

www.itv.com/contactus/wheretofindus/default.html

inundate them with phone calls there is an option to leave a message

disgraceful

Its been amazing a few seconds of crufts coverage and mis information has created a storm of replies and responses to KC and More 4 TV.

Tarrant has a huge fan group and this TV programme would probably had more watchers than crufts and the mis representation of our breed is appalling however only  the poster and one other person has comment on this thread.  Surely Joe Public will perceive the breed as dangerous etc. etc. and need putting straight, however it doesnt apparently seem to be a problem for this board to have our dogs treated in such a way and for the public to be mislead like this.

It was commented on yesterday, there are facebook campaigns with many making official complaints

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/forum/37062.html?pagen=2

Hi Liebe,
                As Joyce states it has been discussed on a different thread, though in hindsight it,s much better highlighted on a new thread.     I also hope more GSD owners show their disgust and officially complain.
  Regards.
weeman.

OMG...disgraceful!

This is the reply to my complaint:

Thank you for your concerns regarding the use of dogs in The Door.

We would like to reassure you that only experienced specially-trained
animals were used and these were supplied by a reputable company that
the production company had used before. This company has been trading
for twenty years and are the biggest in the country, they are government
registered for protection and guard duties.

The dogs are specially trained to bark by hand signals and verbal
commands. The cages used during filming are similar to the dogs own
travel cages as required when they are transported. At all times on set
each dog was supervised by its own handler throughout the filming to
ensure that they were correctly and responsibly treated during the
recording of the programme and that no dog was in its cage for more than
half an hour at a time. Prior to recording the production team consulted
both the handlers and vets over the use of the dogs in this sequence and
after filming the handlers were fully satisfied with the way the filming
was conducted.

We realise that the use of animals within television programmes is a
highly sensitive area for our audience and I hope that this explanation
of the steps taken to ensure the dog's welfare has demonstrated that we
take our responsibility as a broadcaster with the upmost seriousness.

I would like to thank you for taking the time to contact us and hope
that this did not spoil your enjoyment of the show too much.

Regards,

ITV VIEWER SERVICES - jh