Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Pets / Animals Disgusted at new T.V show (open the door)

Just seen a clip of Chris Tarrant´s new show (open the door) about people facing their greatest fears, APRIL 2nd & 3rd at 8.25pm.
im DISGUSTED) there are cages of German Shepherd dogs, where contestants have to pass with lumps of meat,basically goading the dogs which are going mad, PLEASE write to ITV and COMPLAIN
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http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/showbiz/christarrant/
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http://www.itv.com/entertainment/thedoor/
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Write To
http://www.itv.com/contactus/wheretofindus/default.html

i'll reserve judgement until i've seen the programme.

I actually like the look of this show, however if I feel that animals were treated cruelly then the matter will change.

More brain dead TV, thats without watching it.

With you there Bert1, apart from some news items 99% of TV is crap as far as i am concerned as it is only there for the Couch Potato's

I watched it and while I did see a dog laying down and the wagging tails of a couple of others, I also saw a very upset Shepherd barking and snapping at the cage. How much 'winding up' was done to provoke the dogs into a reaction? That's something we didn't really see apart from the pathetic squeals of some of the contestants.
and with the General Public's opinion on dogs these days, it won't have done dogs, especially big dogs like GSD's, any good at all. This was all done for tacky and distasteful entertainment purposes.
I also found the use of rats unnecessary. Keith Duffy's description of them was ignorant and predictable.
I'd rather look at a rats face over his any day.
The programme is awful,

A completely pointless show in my opinion.

Lets not forget that Police Dogs are left locked in cages in vans etc at times. My daughter was lucky enough to win a Police visit to the mounted section and we had to walk past the dog section to get in. The dogs where in a van with cages on top of one another (I presume they had a ledge between them) and the dogs where going mad as they could see there training field. The cages where a lot smaller than the cages used in the tv programme and I dont believe the the police could miss treat animals .

Tilly you say that some dogs were fine but point out ONE that was upset and say how much winding up was done to the DOGS ???

Fair enough if you think the show was pointless but lets not get in the animal cruelty brigade thing.

of course it was cruel and utterly irresponsible of ITV to be using any breed of dog in this fashion.


errrm have you forgotten about the policeman that let his 2 dogs fry in the heat of last summer.

Never watched it, had a feeling it would be a crap show anyway, but everyone to their own. These days the use of animals in film and TV production has to follow a strict code of practice, whatever the dogs got up to in the making of this programme would have been under the guidance of their trainers, at the end of the day, the dogs were acting and probably making a better job of it than their human counterparts.


You don't think Lassie really had 3 arrow's sticking in her while crawling back to the wagon train do you.

Tilly, I still dont see how you can say of course it was cruel ?

Also I mentioned about police dogs and again you use 1 example where 1 police officer was totally out of order, I am guessing you are a dog owner and I guess if I suggested that all dog owners are disgusting due to the amount of dog mess on our pavements you would point out that we should not tar all dog owners the same. The same also applies to police oficers.

Have you made a formal complaint to the television company?

great show loved it cant wait for 2 nights.

i think tilly would have a dog government if she had her way haha

I thought it was ok, watchable. Will watch tonìghts but wont be gutted if i miss it.

As if ITV would take any notice of complaints (this is the company that robs, in broad daylight, millions of pounds off its viewers remember). You would be better off using the Ofcom complaint process at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/progs/specific/?itemid=286480

As it was broadcast on ITV, they have full responsibility to investigate all complaints recieved.

Noticed that on the (brief) aerial shots that the dogs appeared passive + just sniffed!!

yep and to Ofcom.
I heard a few have written to the r***a charity too

when will people learn

What would the penalty be?

I wrote to ITV yesterday with this letter;

I am writing to you as I have seen this clip of your new show "The Door" and I am absolutely horrified. http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/showbiz/christarrant/

The reason I am horrified is that in my opinion the dogs shown here are being abused. In that I mean that they are being deliberately caged and wound up by having celebs scurry past them with meat smeared all over them, scaring them and working them into a frenzy, for cheap viewing thrills. That to me is abuse of an animal, allowing them to be used in this way.

The UK has had a lot of press recently regarding dangerous dogs and I think your programme does nothing to assist the publics fears. In fact I would go so far as to say it heightens peoples fears. It advertises German Shepherds as a breed to be scared of meaning more unlawful people will purchase them for the purposes the Dangerous Dogs Act is trying to outlaw. It puts out a message that you are correct to be afraid of them, as you obviously believe they should be feared or you wouldn't have used them in a programme where you are trying to scare celebrities into doing certain challenges. I think you have been very irresponsible in making this programme, both with your treatment of the dogs and with the message you are conveying by using them in this way.

If this programme is aired I will be writing and complaining to Ofcom and I will do everything in my power via all social networking sites possible to ensure hundreds of others follow suit and join me in complaining.

I thought ITV would have learnt its lesson following the fine you received over the rat incident on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here less than 6 months ago, clearly not.

Regards

and I also wrote to the newspapers with this;

Hi

I have forwarded you an email I have just sent to ITV regarding their new TV show "The Door" and was wondering if you would like to pick up the story?

German Shepherd Forum sites are awash with fury over this programme, relating to the treatment of the dogs, the use of the dogs, the message being sent out by using the dogs and the fact Chris Tarrant refers to them as "rancid".

If you read the link posted to the This Morning clip you will see there are several angry posts.

Can you assist please and report on the outcry? Some believe it is a violation of Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 also.

Regards

and it seems they did pick it up as this appeared today in the Mirror http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/04/03/dogs-stunt-row-over-itv-show-115875-22158814/

Whether you are a dog lover or not is irrelevant here. Point is the message they conveyed by using the dogs in this way was a bad one. I for one, have written to Ofcom to formally complain about this and if anyone else would like to feel free using this link http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/progs/specific/?itemid=414131

Best form of complaint is not watching the TV at all. They won't listen to any form of written/verbal complaint unless they receive a load.

Hency why people are trying to encourage others to write to them. They appear to have received quite a lot do far so there should be an investigation. Its easy to think something is wrong, moan about it but do nothing to prevent it happening again or getting the people responsible to admit they were wrong and apologise. It takes 2 minutes to fill out the Ofcom form and I believe it will make a difference.

I am disgusted. I have got a GSD and it is bad enough trying to explain to people that he is friendly and well behaved without stupid programmes like this one. It is absolutely pointles. The dogs are caged and cannot get to the celebrities anyway they are made to bark for "effect" and to give a sense of danger.

I will be writing to complain about the morons who dreamed up this challange and the damage they are doing to responsible GSD owners. If anyone thinks this tripe is entertainment, you want your head examining.

thanks Capt_America. I also am a GSD owner. The more complaints Ofcom receive the beter. That should wipe the smile off Chris Tarrants smarmy face

i also was horified to see the dogs in cages ....it really upset me and i sent itv an email.....but i doubt they will reply

Why not join us guys?

How can Anonymous keep posting as it says Unregistered ???

This is a TV show, its make believe, it is not real, the dogs were unharmed, its all acting, the dogs are trained animals acting and probably enjoying themselves, right now their probably at home lying in front of the fire doing a bit of knitting. It will do no harm to the GSD breed or any other breed because most of the viewing population will understand its just a show, not reality.
Are we now going to call for police dogs, barking, growling and frothing at the mouth at the end of a lead, while on crowd control to be banned because it might give the wrong impression of a breed.

great letter...

much better than the one I sent but all input is better than no input IMO.
Our breed tolerates enough crap without this sort of nonsence being allowed to go on.

you should show yourself Anonymous and register properly we could do with more people like you here

Well said Bert, I mentioned police dogs earlier and as you say they are trained it is part of their job. It would not surprise me if the dogs used were in fact ex police dogs or police dogs that never made the grade.

police dogs be it GSD's, Malinois, labs or spaniels are seen to be doing a job they are trained to do. these dogs where put in that situation for entertainment purposes, Jeez, we banned circus animals didn't we? using animals like this is cruel and unnecessary.

[quote/] using animals like this is cruel and unnecessary. [/quote] dean gaffney being electrocuted- my idea of fun.

dean gaffney being electrocuted- my idea of fun. [/quote]

Oh Yes!!!

Team Jen.

There's a big difference between what these animals do and how they live and captive animals in a circus and a zoo for that matter. These animals are highly trained and its to the benefit of their owner, trainer, to keep them happy and in good health. If acting in a cage for a short period is considered cruel, most boarding kennels in GB can expect to be closed down. I expect if these dogs were playing a Rin Tin Tin role, always the hero, nothing would be said.

Oh well! Upward and onward- Team Keith!

How do you know these animals where highly trained, there is no mention as to where they where from, they could of been from the pound down the road/owned by people on the ITV set/brought in by ordinary if not stupid dog owners!
or the they could of been taken there by the r***a charity for all we know.

Going by memory, all animals used as performers on TV have to be licensed, and have vets certificates, i think, but correct me if I'm wrong, have to have a vet on stand by, especially on location, lets say out in the wilds. There are certain laws to be observed in this country.

I wouldn't know Bert
I have never heard of such laws TBH. so I don't know if they exist or even abided by.

I agree Tilly. No one knows where the dogs came from or whether they were "trained performers". They dont have to be traind performers to take part in this show as they werent asked to do anything and werent performing in any way, they were simply caged and taunted with meaty smelling humans wriggling past them.

Re the ridiculous comments made about police dogs, we are all fully aware police dogs are trained to do a certain job whether they be Malinois, GSD, Rottie or sniffer spaniels for example. We are also all aware that these police dogs are monitored regularly by vets and by strict codes of conduct. We are not however, aware that this is the case with the dogs depicted in this tv show. Hence the complaints as people want info that this IS indeed the case. Also my letter relates to the message the programme conveys. Police dogs barking/snarling/growling at criminals conveys the message that they are highly trained to fight crime at their trainers command, no such message was conveyed in this programme bar that they are a breed of dog to be afraid of which, as I have already stated is an irresponsible message to send out to the wary public.

Finally relating to the "if the dog played a hero nothing would be said" comment, that would be because the "hero" is rarely tehtered and worked into a frenzy by Z list "celebs" parading round their cages with meat attached to them. Common sense really.....

And I havent registered as I came across this thread via google whilst posting on other like forums with the links for complaints, saw someone had already started a thread about it and that I didnt need to register to post.

No, Circus animals aren't banned, they are regulated though.

Here is a link that may be of use

CLICKY

thanks DD just found the article stating
'Circuses Facing ban on wild animals'
I apologise i thought this was already in force

it should of been done years ago IMO.

anyway we are not talking about wild animals we are talking about dogs! German Shepherds to be precise

well said Anonymous



OK nice to meet you anyway

In the last 36 years i have had 3 GSD and a Terrier cross and they were all encouraged, yes encouraged to show aggression and go berserk when anyone came near my property, door knocking, postmen, window cleaners and milkmen etc. The 3 GSD were trained to a high standard and would bark, growl and show aggression to anyone who was thought threatening whilst out amongst the public. Yet it was all an illusion, In reality they were all as daft as a brush.

Gsd in police and security work maybe highly trained but one of the attributes they have to have is aggression, not an illusion of aggression, they have to have it or they are rejected. It would be pointless to have such working dogs without it.

If you persist in your quest of trying to prove a point, that a TV programme are using untrained and unsupervised dogs that show that amount of aggression, whether caged and goaded or not, in my opinion you can only damage, not only the reputation of the breed but it may well lead to a witch hunt by the press and eventually end up having these dogs put down.
Thankfully i don't believe that is the case, i still think they were performing under the guidance of a trainer within the rules laid out.

bert1 I have never once said that the tv show were using "untrained and unsupervised dogs that show that amount of aggression". I have simply stated that dogs caged and taunted by celebs scurrying past them covered in meat is wrong and should not have happened. The only other point I made was that the PROGRAMME MAKERS are trying to make them out as something to be afriad of by using them in a programme about "scary challenges". Therefore i dont see how I, in any way could damage the reputation of the breed and how my letters of complaint could in an remote way lead to dogs being out down. it is, as you said, your opinion which you are entitled to and thats fair enough but I am entitled to mine also and mine is that your opinion is a load of old @%$£

Of course we are all entitled to our opinions and hopefully without the need for abusive language or innuendo, it is my opinion that the so called dog lovers, though in this case breed lovers have shot themselves in the foot, what would have passed as a silly little programme that just happened to have dogs in could now turn in to a debate on how reliable a breed is or is not. While your concern maybe how a particular breed was treated by a TV programme and your concerns for their health and safety and how they were made to look. What will happen will be old prejudices will be dragged up that the GSD owners took years to shake off. It will come as no surprise to me that the next dog attack report in the papers will be reported as being done by GSD type dog. It is my belief this is what happens when something is made out of nothing.

here we go

To late, already gone.

Im bored of this topic now, im sure if the animals in the show were not happy they could always sue the programme makers

how can you say that WE have damaged the breed by complaining about the way they where treated.what a ridiculous statement to make.
(and WE would of complained no matter what breed was used BTW)
ITV have done nothing but exploit this wonderful breed of dog for viewers amusement. In doing this they are no doubt giving German Shepherds a bad name, which they do NOT deserve. ITV has started the wheels in motion to spread doubt to impressionable people about these wonderful dogs.

With this compensation culture we have now adays and all the dogooders , do you honestly think programme makers would make a show that was harmfull to animals. They would be terrified in case animal right activists got involved.

errrm! they did it's called the 'The Door'

You will be saying next that lassie should'nt have made all those films

why???????????????
I thought you where bored with this thread anyway.

Wonder if any dogging goes on in Central Park

Respect to Tilly as she stands by her views, I do disagree with them and I sense that she respects my views which are the same as bert's.

Good healthy debate is good and one we should encourage it, lets just make sure things dont get out of hand and personal.

Also I am unsure as to whether I will post anymore, I did not realize when I registered that people could take part in topics without signing up. Dont like that as we could be seeing Anonymous when in reality it could be someone just stirring and how do the people in charge deal with Anonymous users?

Will look in and decide whether to continue asap.

how can you say that WE have damaged the breed by complaining about the way they where treated.what a ridiculous statement to make.
(and WE would of complained no matter what breed was used BTW)
ITV have done nothing but exploit this wonderful breed of dog for viewers amusement. In doing this they are no doubt giving German Shepherds a bad name, which they do NOT deserve. ITV has started the wheels in motion to spread doubt to impressionable people about these wonderful dogs. [/quote]

If ITV are giving the breed a bad name and have started the wheels in motion to spread doubt about the breed, what you and anonymous are doing is fueling the fire to give non dog lovers and people in society who want to see all dogs classed as dangerous animals a platform to do damage while debating it. If it was left well alone and let the silly programme slip in to the distant past, nothing would have been said. I still believe the animals came to no harm and it was just role play. If in anyway i thought for one minute cruelty was involved i would be shouting myself. What will now possibly happen while you are shouting how good the breed is and the benefits in owning one, you will now get people speaking up against the breed who have had bad experiences of them. All because of a stupid programme.

I respect everyone's views even if I don't agree with you or Bert but hey ho that's life.
I know all about debates getting out of hand and personal so no need to pull me up on that one

as for Anonymous post's I'm not sure if they should or shouldn't be allowed
but I do agree with everything thing Anonymous said in this thread

Well said bert.

what a load of old Dog S**t

re my posts, I dont really see what the difference is whether i am on here with the username Bob for example or on here as anonymous? Irrelevant, no one knows who is at the end of a screen. I explained why I posted here, I came across the thread on google and I explained that I didnt need to be registered to sign up. I suppose thats up to the forum mods whether they should or should not be permitted however, that debate is for a different thread on your forum I'm sure.

Re the topic in hand though....erm Bert1 re this statement "you are shouting how good the breed is and the benefits in owning one" I again have never stated how good the breed is or any benefits of owning one. Perhaps you should read the complaint letters again to see exactly what we have taken issue with here? Just a suggestion! And as for Tilly's comment here "WE would of complained no matter what breed was used" its spot on!

I suppose it doesn't make any difference if we all use anonymous then!

That's becuse its probably you posting anonymously

I've been accused of that on here before too

anyway I've made my mind up there's nowt wrong with posting Anonymously

I'm glad to see there is no prejudice on here - equal opportunities and all that - we even accept individuals with Multiple Personality Disorder

I stopped talking to myself after I had a fallen out!

Nout wrong with anonymous posting, that's what the feature is enabled for. Although, I do have a feeling it is truely enabled for the relationship advice forum lmao.

I think i know who anonymous is, real name is norman bates

you know susan, at least some of us stand by our views and I certainly make sure my actions are relevant to the views I have unlike you who seems to be bored of this thread but continually checking it and posting on it.

Plus I havent written all anonymous posts, some of them are mine some arent. I'm not that bothered as to whether people can identify which are mine or not as the reason I came on was regarding the complaint to Ofcom and I have now posted this and made sure people have seen it which was my only aim.

I think I know who the other anons are too susan but what the hell kids in playground stuff!

thanks for you input on the forum Anonymous I don't expect everyone to agree with us but thats what a debate is all about.
I will always be a voice for the dogs and try to undo what humans have done to them including bull breeds and ending BSL stopping the r***a charity using CBG on our pets tv programmes using GSD's for entertainment the list is endless..

I know we agree to disagree with regards our views on the RSPCA, but the use of Acronyms there made me chuckle! (I dont mean any mallicious intent, genuinely found it amusing lol).

sorry I cant bring myself to give the 'charity' it's non deserved title.
CBG means Captive Bolt Gun and GSD you already know.
glad I made you chuckle

Tilly you should join germanshepherdsuk.co.uk xxx

I'm already registered there but cant remember my password. it was ages and ages ago when I registered. have been waiting for re-activation email. I am on gsdrescue forum too

this one is good too http://4pawsgsd.forumotion.net/

I'm on there too, I bet we are already friends on facebook

probably lol! x

are you signed in on 4paws now lol!

got a reply of 'OFCAM' Obviously a standard reply so we'll have to wait for the outcome.

'Thank you for contacting Ofcom. Your views are important to us as they help to ensure broadcasters follow the rules set out in our codes. These codes set standards for all programmes on TV and radio.

We understand that sometimes people see something on TV, or hear a programme on radio, which they think is offensive or inappropriate, and they want to complain to us about it.

Ofcom assesses each complaint it receives to decide whether it raises a potential issue under its codes.

If your complaint does raise a potential issue, we will start an investigation. Once that’s concluded, we’ll write to you to let you know of our decision. However, if we’ve received a very high number of complaints about a particular programme, it may not be possible for us to write to each complainant individually with the outcome of our investigation.

If your complaint doesn’t raise potential issues under the codes, Ofcom will not normally write back to you.

However, whether or not we believe an investigation is required, please be assured that your comments and feedback are always considered, and all our decisions are published in the Broadcast Bulletin.

Ofcom publishes its Broadcast Bulletin, every fortnight, on this website. This includes the latest decisions about the complaints we’ve received.

If you would like to find out more, you can read:

• issues of the Broadcast Bulletin at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/prog_cb/;
• our Consumer Guide at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/files/2009/12/tvcomplaints.pdf;
• our procedures for investigating standards cases http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/guida...standards.pdf; or
• our procedures for investigating fairness and privacy cases http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/guidance/fairness/fairness.pdf'

I got that in resaponse the other day too Tilly. We just need to wait and see what comes of it.

I got this from ITV today;

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


That answers the cruelty issue to an extent but it certainly doesnt answer or apologise for the statement they made by using these dogs. Ofcom has my complaint and so we shall see where it goes from there.

'anon'- not a problem, to me BUT i have noticed that you tend to 'spring to life' when this topic is re-vitalised! You an un logged insider- ya gotta be- if so, why post as 'anon'??

They really have missed the point, haven`t they?
This is not a Drama - the dogs are presented as `savage` and likely to bite....and that is what the general public sees. So prejudice is reinforced.
Plonkers.

I am posting as anon cos I am not a member of this forum.
As explained now on several occasions I came across this thread whilst googling for something else re this incident. I have no need to be a member as I will not use this forum for anything else and the reason I have posted again is because I am checking for updates on this thread. No big conspiracy.

Google this and you will see you are the first link to come up and hence why i found you;
facebook group ban the tv programme the door gsd

They certainly have Tilly ans they certainly are!

is norman at it again

Its TV, its for entertainment, and im sure no conditions will have been breached as they would expect a flood of letters afterwards.

They broadcast I'm A Celeb and were fined £1600 and found guilty of animal cruelty after the rat incident, they broadcast Strictly Come Dancing and were fined after the voting incident, and in fact have also been fined a total of £5.6 million and found guilty of fraud relating to several other programmes inc Ant and Decs Saturday Night Takeaway regarding rigged competitions, and then in July 2008 they were found in contempt of court and fined £25000 in relation to a news trial they showed. Therefore I conclude that ITV is capable of breaching conditions, and would indeed breach conditions, for viewing pleasure as they have certainly done so in the past.

Dont even get me started on channel 4 for other examples of large TV networks "breaching viewing conditions".....!

yawn susan, you're like, just so three days ago! Bet you have a wardrobe full of last seasons offerings lol! Get with the tempo!

If you have so much to say, why not register and become part of the forums - it only takes a min to register

because I dont want to register and I dont need to be registered to post. I dont see what the problem is, clearly its allowed or the mods wouldnt have the non registered users facility.

I am a member of several forums, all ones which I use regularly for differing topics. This is a forum I will not use as I am only interested in this thread. Therefore whats the point in becoming a member when I can reply to the only thread I am interested in without having to do so?