'That's cruelty': PETA calls for animal scenes be cut from new Jackass movie

‘Peta is urging producers to remove stunts involving animals from the film,’ reads plea to Jackass Forever from animal rights group

Peta has condemned the latest movie in the Jackass franchise for including scenes it calls animal cruelty.

The animal advocacy group is pushing for Jackass Forever to cut the scenes with pranks involving animals. The film’s trailer shows a range of creatures, including tarantulas, bears, snakes and bulls.

In their statement, Peta outlined their belief that humans are able to consent to the movie’s antics, but the animals cannot.

“It’s quite another when animals are exploited, harassed, and harmed: That’s cruelty,” the animal rights charity said.

The upcoming movie, starring series regulars Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O, is due to hit cinemas in October.

“The Jackass Forever trailer shows Knoxville’s crew provoking a snake and a bull to the point of attack, treating a tarantula like a game piece, and coercing a chained bear to eat honey off a bound participant,” the statement reads.

Peta claims that the trailer promotes using animals as props inside and outside of the movie industry by their “normalising” it.

“Four months before its release, Jackass Forever has already risked normalising animal exploitation and legitimising the cruel exhibitors who pimp out animals for productions.” they wrote. “Peta is urging producers to remove stunts involving animals from the film.”

The film’s synopsis states, “Celebrating the joy of being back together with your best friends and a perfectly executed shot to the dingdong, the original Jackass crew return for another round of hilarious, wildly absurd, and often dangerous displays of comedy with a little help from some exciting new cast.”

The Jackass Forever trailer has flash backs to the original movie, before a closed captions reads, “When was the last time you got together with old friends to laugh your asses off?”

Alongside the stunts with animals, among the featured clips include Mr Knoxville being shot out of a cannon, people getting slapped into pools by giants hands and baseballs being thrown at crotches.

The Independent reached out to Paramount Pictures for comment on Peta’s demands.