SALT

“No Animals Were Harmed”®

A Russian defector accuses CIA agent Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) of being a Russian spy raised in a mythical training program and on a mission to kill world leaders. She goes on the run, trying to convince her co-workers that she is not who they think she is.

Featured Animal Action
All grounds were inspected for hazards and sets were closed and secured. Cast and crew members were introduced to the animals and instructed on their proper handling before filming.

Dogs and Horses
In several scenes, Evelyn’s dog is seen in the background, mostly on a dog bed or running from room to room. For this mild action, a trainer placed the dog on its mark and either cued it to stay or to run to another, awaiting trainer.

For the scene in which she puts the dog in her backpack, goes out her apartment window, and scales the building until entering another apartment and removing  the dog, there was no dog in the backpack during the stunt portion of the scene. Trainers placed the dog in the backpack after the actress was already in the second apartment and moments before she took the backpack off and removed the dog. The dog was not present during the explosion in Salt’s apartment.

For the scene in which the K9 unit dogs walk around the car at the White House gate, costumed trainers served as guards and cued the mild on-leash action. Costumed trainers also served as the police who rode on horseback during the funeral procession.

Spider and Insects
The tarantula and other spiders in cages on Salt’s table were placed in a comfortable cage and allowed to do whatever came naturally with no interaction with humans. For the scene in which Salt places small spiders in glass jars, trainers gave the actress clear instructions on how to carefully handle the spiders and gently place them in ventilated jars. For certain close-up scenes, a trainer’s fingers were shown instead of the actress’ fingers. For the shot in which Salt appears to inject a spider with a syringe to draw venom, the spider was allowed to crawl up the tilted jar, and as soon as its legs were on the jar’s lip, the injection action was pantomimed (the syringe was a prop, and the spider was nonvenomous). The actress simulated the venom draw by carefully placing the fake needle against the spider for a moment and then placing the spider back in the jar.

The butterflies in the greenhouse were computer-generated.

American Humane also monitored scenes with insects in a lab, beetles placed in Salt’s pocket and additional dog scenes, all of which were cut from the theatrical release.

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