Scorsese 'fury' at award snub for Hugo dog

Martin Scorsese has launched a campaign to get Blackie the Doberman, the canine star of his film Hugo, nominated for an award.

In a letter to the Los Angeles Times, the director – whose film is up for 11 Oscars – said he felt "severely slighted" because Blackie had not been nominated for "best dog in a theatrical film" at the Golden Collar Awards. In Blackie's defence, he railed against the canine star Uggie, who received nods for his roles in The Artist and Water for Elephants.

The Jack Russell played "a nice little mascot" whereas Blackie "dared to risk the sympathy of her audience" by giving an "uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog", Scorsese said in the letter printed on Sunday. In response, the Dog Daily News said it would add Blackie to the list of nominees if it received more than 500 requests via its Facebook page by 6 February. "Obviously, in Mr Scorsese's mind, 11 Oscar nominations don't even equal one Golden Collar nod," the website said.