You know that “no animals were harmed in the making of this film” thing? Well, there is a United States governing body that has the sole responsibility of checking film sets out, and issuing them with permission to display such a message.

The American Humane Association (AHA), a 136-year-old nonprofit organisation, is responsible for insuring animal safety in movies and television, and reviewing internal documents.

Those of us who watched Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning ‘Life of Pi’, will remember the tiger, Richard Parker. Well, apparently he wasn’t “not harmed” in the production of the film after all.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Gary Baum investigated the case. He managed to find an email written by Gina Johnson, the AHA monitor assigned to to the movie, detailing an incident in which King, the tiger, “nearly drowned.”

I think this goes without saying but DON’T MENTION IT TO ANYONE, ESPECIALLY THE OFFICE! I have downplayed the f— out of it. Pi received the “No Animals Were Harmed” distinction.

The sad truth is that there are often scores of films that may have violated AHA restrictions, but were not investigated simply because of budget-related problems.

[Source : Yahoo! News]