A Hollywood animal casting agency says they got the doggone shaft when a trainer went behind their back and cut his own lucrative deal, and now they’re looking to collect some major bones.
According to documents obtained by The Blast, Animal Savvy says in 2013 and 2014 they were approached by a production company to provide a “number of dogs to perform on a television special pilot called “Mutt & Stuff.”
trainingwithomar.com
Animal Savvy says they immediately contacted famed animal trainer Omar Von Muller, who famously trained the late pup Uggie from “The Artist.” Muller had a dog named Jumpy (pictured above) that the casting agency thought would be perfect for the role of Zippy.
After the show got picked up by Nickelodeon, Animal Savvy says they were selected as the animal provider, so they cut a deal with Von Muller to use Jumpy and two of his other dogs, Popeye and Dash.
“Mutt & Stuff” was a clear success, but Animal Savvy says the money Muller was getting “was apparently not enough,” so he allegedly hatched a deal with producers to cut Animal Savvy out of the deal with his dogs.
Animal Savvy says in October 2015 they got a text message from Muller informing them that “Jumpy is irreplaceable, he’s the star of the show that nickelodeon wants.” Muller allegedly said he could not work with Animal Savvy as a partner anymore, and that “You can still make money out of 20 dogs if you want to, but not from mine. Especially Jumpy.”
Muller allegedly effectively cut Animal Savvy out of their 1/3 animal rental fee, and now they’re going after Muller for $98,141.66 claiming he breached their contract by trying to cut his own deal.
