MOVIES - Dec. 21, 1989

‘Roger & Me’ Not Funny to Humane Assn.: Michael Moore’s acclaimed new documentary “Roger & Me” is considered by most to be scathingly humorous. The American Humane Assn. sees the film differently, however, and is warning all animal lovers about one particularly chilling scene. The scene in question, according to Betty Denny Smith, director of the Los Angeles office of the AHA, shows a woman clubbing a young rabbit to death, stripping off its fur and gutting it. The woman, one of thousands who had been laid off by General Motors in Flint, Mich., ran a “rabbits for sale business--for pets or food,” she said. The woman’s establishment was later shut down. “This documentary could have been told without this gruesome scene,” said Smith, whose office oversees the use of animals in movie and television productions.