Tagging animals and wranglers
Animals show up in a breakdown in two places: the animal itself (pink, in the vehicles and animals box) and the people who come with it. Most scheduling software has a separate Animal Wrangler category for that reason. A rural drama might break down like this:
| Sc. | Animal | Action required | Wrangler notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Barn cat | sits on hay bale, walks off | 2 matching cats; trainer + assistant |
| 31 | Rufus (dog, lab mix) | runs to Cole, drops ball at feet | hero dog + double, 3 days training in prep |
| 88 | 4 horses in barn | stand in stalls during fire | fire near animals: horses likely removed, VFX or empty stalls |
| 90 | Rufus | barks at cruiser | trainer off camera, sound team told about cues |
Each row starts from an action line. "Rufus runs to Cole and drops the ball" sounds like a single beat, but it's a trained behavior with a specific actor that has to be rehearsed, and the wrangler will want the actor in prep to build a relationship with the dog.
What wranglers need from the production
Start the conversation in prep with the full list of animal scenes, the required behaviors, the shoot dates, and the locations. The wrangler then tells you:
- how many animals and doubles they'll bring
- how much prep training time the behaviors need
- how long each animal can work in a day, and rest requirements
- trailer, holding, water, shade, and temperature needs at base camp
- which scenes they consider unsafe as written
That last point matters for scenes like 88. Fire, loud gunfire, and moving cars around animals often get rewritten, cheated with doubles, or moved to visual effects. Better to learn that from the breakdown than on the day.
On the call sheet and on set
Animal scenes add lines to the call sheet: the animals, the wranglers' call times, and a note for a closed or quiet set. The 1st AD runs a short safety meeting before the first animal setup. The wrangler usually gives the cue and sets the pace. If the dog is done for the day, the dog is done for the day, which means animal scenes should sit early in the schedule and not be the last setup before wrap.
Monitoring and certification
On SAG-AFTRA productions, the 2023 theatrical contract lets the producer use American Humane or another agreed animal monitoring service, and requires telling SAG-AFTRA which one. American Humane's program also certifies productions for the "No Animals Were Harmed" end credit. Registration needs scripts and schedules ahead of time, so send them from the breakdown as soon as the animal scenes are known.
Common mistakes
Background animals get missed (a horse in a paddock, chickens in a yard). So do animals that are only mentioned: "the neighbor's dog won't stop barking" might be an off-screen sound effect or a real dog, and the breakdown should say which.