American Sniper (2014)

In the scene where the little boy (with the guidance from his father) shoots a deer, production used a fake deer. A real deer was not used. The taxidermy deer was rigged to move its leg when it was shot.

In the scene with the rodeo when the actor rides a bucking bronc, all the animals (horses included) were ridden by professional stunt riders. Trainers and animal wranglers were off-camera making sure all safety issues were met.

When we see the actors driving down the road with a horse running next to them, production placed the horse in a fully fenced pasture with companion horse, who was saddled and nearby at all times. The horse was prepped for work before crew appeared at the location. Panels (approximately six feet) set up in a zigzag fashion. Production placed a bucket of grain at point B. When action was called trainers released the horse from point A to point B. When the horse ran to point B handlers caught him at that point. Distance was over one hundred yards.

In the scene where the actor is shooting at targets and turns his gun and kills the rattlesnake, a fake snake was used for the shooting itself.  First the trainer placed the live snake on the ground. They got the shot. Then the trainer replaced the real snake with a frozen, dead snake, and they used a small explosive to have it fly in the air as if it were shot.

In the scene where the dog jumps on the boy and the father pulls the dog off him in a violent manner, the trainer clipped a buzzer inside of the kid’s sweatshirt. On action the trainer told the dog, “Feet up,” and the dog jumped up on kid’s back. When the boy fell down, the dog searched for the hidden treat in the neck of his shirt to simulate an attack. Just prior to shooting the scene, the main actor gave the dog a nice greeting and reassurance. When the actor pulls the dog off the boy, the dog was not pulled very hard. Thereafter, the camera follows actor getting up and rushing over to dog, getting ready to hit dog with a folded belt, but the dog wasn’t in the scene. They cut that scene together. A duffel bag was put in place of the dog for the actor to struggle and express anger with.
 

Due to late notification, American Humane Association did not monitor any of the goat and some of the dog and horse action.