Grand Falls-Windsor theatre pulls screening of A Dog's Purpose

The only cinema in Grand Falls-Windsor is boycotting a Canadian film, after the publication of a video that purports to show mistreatment of an animal on set.

The Classic Theatre in Grand Falls-Windsor has cancelled all screenings ofA Dog's Purpose,a Canadian film set for release on Jan. 27.

Owners Shawn and Jackie Feener told CBC Radio's Central Morning Show that they watched the controversial TMZ video, released on Wednesday. Itshows a dog struggling against an animal trainer as he tries to push it into rapidly-moving water.

• Animal rights group complaint alleges 'blatant animal cruelty' on A Dog's Purpose film set
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"The dog is visibly terrified. They try several times to get him in the water, he does not want to go," JackieFeener explains.

The theatre ownersays she doesn't want to support, or profit from, animal mistreatment.

"We just decided from our own standpoint this is not anything that we would want to propagate on our screen," she said.

"That's not anything that we want to be a part of, and we certainly don't feel like making money on the backs of animals that may have been mistreated in the filming."

• Safety rep suspended after animal cruelty allegations on A Dog's Purpose film set

Animal rightsgroups like PETA have been calling for a boycott of the film, which was filmed in Manitoba in 2015.

The film follows the many lives of Bailey, a reincarnated dog.

Shawn Feener says the movie, and the controversy, hits close to home as his deceased dog was named Bailey as well.

"We're big time dog lovers, we've got two ourselves. We've got a rescue dog, home, too as well," he adds.