How to Earn End-Credits

No animals were harmed logo

Production Reminder

How to earn the “No Animals Were Harmed”® End Credit Certification Mark, Language and Rating:

  • If SAG/AFTRA Domestic: The production must have contacted American Humane Association’s Film & TV Unit prior to filming the animal and submitted the appropriate paperwork and registration forms and agreed to the terms of service.. 
  • If SAG/AFTRA International or Non-Union Domestic/International: The production must have contacted the Film & TV Unit prior to filming the animal and submitted the appropriate paperwork and registration forms, in addition to establishing a fees contract for oversight. 
  • Once principal photography on a production is completed, American Humane Association’s Film & TV Unit must screen the finished product prior to its theatrical release/air date. 
  • After a screening, if a Film & TV Unit staff member has further questions or needs clarification regarding animal action, such as requiring receipts for taxidermy or information about stock footage, production must present this information in the requested manner. 
  • Once the Film & TV Unit staff has gone through the on-set reports and substantiated the animal action as that which was monitored, and if the production is then deemed eligible for the end credit certification language, an official rating and logo will be issued*, along with a specific log number assigned to that production, and the production will be authorized to use the certification mark.
  • For every monitored production, American Humane Association will post on our website either a “Review” to inform the public how the animal action was accomplished; or a “Rating” (including: Monitored: Outstanding; Monitored: Acceptable; Monitored: Special Circumstances; Monitored: Unacceptable; Not Monitored: Production Compliant; and Not Monitored); or both.
  • American Humane Association’s staff then responds to public inquiry throughout the entire life of a project.

*Commercials, infomercials, music videos, still photographs, web presentations, and certain special projects will receive an official document known as a “sign-off letter,” in which American Humane Association deems that No Animals Were Harmed and that all Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media were followed. This is in lieu of an end-credit certification mark or language, since no end credits are used on these productions.

For more information on our ratings, certification and to read reviews of specific productions visit www.americanhumane.org

Legal Advisory:

American Humane is the only entity responsible for administering and approving all uses of its end-credit trademark “No Animals Were Harmed”®, including, but not limited to, SAG or AFTRA productions and in independent productions that are not affiliated with SAG, AFTRA or any other like organization. American Humane is the owner of the registered certification mark NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED, Reg. No. 2,907,530, Ser. No. 76/394,807.

When a production opts to forgo our monitoring services and approval process, producers may not use, reproduce or display American Humane Association's certified trademark, including its logo and end credit language or ratings. This is the case, even if the producer used our services and completed the American Humane procedure in any other productions and were permitted to use our end credit disclaimer and/or rating in those productions. Indeed, American Humane’s trademark, including its logo and end credit language, is tracked via a unique alpha-numeric code and cannot be transferred or reassigned from any other production. 

Therefore, please refrain from copying, reproducing or displaying, in whole or in part, in any form or manner, American Humane Association's registered certification mark NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED, Reg. No. 2,907,530, Ser. No. 76/394,807, or any mark, logo or statement that is confusingly similar to our registered trademark, including any similar wording that speaks to the treatment of animals. Doing so may constitute violations of, among other laws, section 43(a) of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)), federal trademark and antidilution laws (15 U.S.C. § 1525(c)), trademark infringement laws (15 U.S.C. §§ 1114(1)(a) & (b)), laws prohibiting the use counterfeit marks (15 U.S.C. § 1114(1)(a)), and other federal and state laws regarding palming off, unfair competition and unfair business practices.

In addition to whatever legal action American Humane may choose to pursue to protect its rights and reputation, American Humane also intends to inform the public by whatever means and in whatever media it determines to be appropriate, including in the industry trades and American Humane’s website, that American Humane did not monitor the production, that it did not authorize the use of its trademarks or ratings, that it cannot comment on the treatment or use of animals in the production, that it does not endorse or sanction the use or treatment of animal actors in the production and that any suggestion that American Humane Association was involved with or endorsed the production in any manner is false and misleading. Unauthorized use also serves to insult those fellow producers who legitimately have earned the en-credit designation.

The public has come to look for our end credit language on productions, because it offers the assurance that American Humane Association was present during filming, and that, indeed, no animal was harmed. Thus, we take very seriously all unauthorized usesin productions of our trademark, including our logo and statements regarding the treatment of animals, and we are committed to diligently protecting and enforcing to the fullest extent of the law our rights to our intellectual property and other rights and privileges afforded us by law.