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Birds & Animals Unlimited -- the group responsible for training the dogs in "A Dog's Purpose" -- insists Hercules the German Shepherd wasn't forced to perform a stunt, and claims the video doesn't tell the full story.

In a letter to TMZ, the org admits Hercules was resistant to entering the pool from a new location, but they cut right away, and went back to the original spot where he'd trained for the scene ... and he jumped in, happily.

Birds & Animals claims the dog was not thrown in from the spot where he resisted, but feels the "falsely edited video" implied that. TMZ did not edit the video. We posted all the footage as obtained.

The letter also addresses the voice in the video saying, "Just gotta throw him in."

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton collapsed while giving his State of the State address Monday night ... and the scary moment was captured on video.

Dayton was delivering the speech at the University of Minnesota -- he was about 40 minutes in -- when he began to slur his words and reached for a drink of water. Moments later he appeared to faint and others rushed in to help him.

The 69-year-old governor was reportedly conscious as he was helped into a back room minutes later. His son Eric just tweeted that his father is doing great ... but offered no explanation for the collapse.

Shia LaBeouf's round-the-clock webcam protest of President Trump has a new viewer ... the NYPD.

Shia's group chants of "He will not divide us" have been drawing crowds outside NYC's Museum of the Moving Image since Friday afternoon -- at times there are several dozen people there joining in the action.

We noticed an NYPD van was also on the scene Monday, and cops tell us it's gonna be that way for a while. We're told at least one unit will be stationed at the protest, mostly for crowd control.

There's another potential issue -- haters looking to start trouble with Shia. On Sunday, he came dangerously close to getting physical with one such person.

TMZ Sports has obtained the Pacman Jones arrest video from his hotel incident on Jan. 3 -- in which he GOES OFF on the arresting cops ... telling them to "suck my d***" and saying, "I hope you die tomorrow."

Barack and Michelle Obama have left Palm Springs, less than 3 days after arriving, and it seems they're on their way to Richard Branson's private island in the Caribbean.

The former prez and Michelle boarded a private jet Monday morning ... a jet owned by Branson. The plane is bound for the airport a stone's throw from Necker Island, where Branson lives.

Branson is involved in a slew of socially conscious causes, including deep concerns over climate change ... one of President Obama's passions.

Branson has been a vocal proponent of Obamacare, and a longtime supporter of the president.

Just 2 days ago Branson posted a pic of himself and the former president.

The pussyhats behind that sea of pink at the Women's March on Washington D.C. -- and others around the world -- will be enshrined in a museum commemorating the day.

Pussyhat Project co-founder Krista Suh says there were more than 20,000 of the iconic pink hats in D.C. alone, and the movement got the attention of Michigan State University Museum. We've learned the museum plans to include pussyhats in a feminism exhibit.

Suh's proud celebs like Madonna, Krysten Ritter, Julianne Moore, Amy Schumer and even Nick Offerman sported pussyhats at marches -- and says it's becoming impossible to quantify the hats' popularity. But that's a good thing.

The museum tells us the goal is to include a tip of the hat to pussyhats in a Women's History Month display. That's in March, if you didn't know.

"A Dog's Purpose" executive producer Gavin Polone makes no bones about it ... the video posted by TMZ showing a distressed German Shepherd shows mistakes were made on the set, but he insists the animals featured in the movie were well cared for and protected.

Polone strongly believes PETA is smearing the movie by trying to mislead the public into believing the dog and other animals were put in harm's way.

And Polone has harsh words for the American Humane Association, which he says should have stopped the action when the Shepherd made it clear he did not want in the water.

'SNL' acted swiftly to punish one of its writers after she tweeted a tasteless joke about 10-year-old Barron Trump.

A source familiar with the situation says 'SNL' has suspended Katie Rich indefinitely, and the suspension came down immediately after her infamous social media post on inauguration Friday.

Rich tweeted, "Barron will be this country's first homeschool shooter."

Rich has since deleted all her tweets, with the exception of an apology she posted Monday.

Deadline first reported her suspension.

PETA's first official protest poster against "A Dog's Purpose" barks out its mission statement ... "For Dog's Sake, Don't See This Movie."

We got our hands on the literature PETA just created for its planned nationwide picketing of theaters where the movie will play, starting Friday. Sources close to the org tell TMZ they'll be sending out as many boxes of the

as needed, to anyone who wants to help spread the word ... free of charge.

We're told more than 1,000 people in at least 25 cities have already requested the posters, which include a discussion about the video TMZ posted, showing Hercules, the German Shepherd, distressed while filming a scene.

Kim Zolciak is coming to daughter Brielle Biermann's defense denying the 19-year-old has ever had butt implants, despite what the Internet thinks.

Brielle posted a racy pic of her rump on Snapchat and many jumped to the conclusion that it was fake since she has posted video of her lip injections in the past.

However, Kim tells TMZ the proof Brielle's got natural cakes is in the rest of her body ... there isn't an ounce of fat to use for butt implants. Kim says Brielle's big ass comes from the gym -- she works out a ton.

Not to mention ... she's 19.

Melania Trump is going to endear herself to New Yorkers right off the bat by NOT creating traffic jams across the city ... TMZ has learned.

The First Lady returned to Trump Tower Sunday night because, as we reported ... she religiously escorts Barron to his private school -- but now they'll do it in a heavily protected motorcade rolling through NYC. This, understandably, was a deep concern for city commuters.

Our law enforcement sources tell us it won't be that bad. We're told the plan is to block off streets in a rolling pattern -- for just a few minutes -- to allow the First Lady's convoy to move quickly. NYPD will assist the Secret Service by blocking streets and re-opening them as soon as Melania's ride passes.

Bottom line for NYers: No massive street closures all at once, and no gridlock. Also, we're told the route will change regularly for security purposes.

We'll see how this all works Wednesday morning when Barron heads back to school.

Donald Trump is ever the businessman, trying to own the slogan that got him elected, with a few changes.

Trump filed legal docs 2 days before he was inaugurated president, asking to trademark the phrase, "Keep America Great!"

The application seeks to corner the market on bumper stickers, shirts, posters, buttons and, of course, caps and hats ... all bearing the slogan.

Trump announced last week "Keep America Great" will be his slogan for the 2020 re-election campaign.

The "Hollyweed" sign prankster struck again -- this time on San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge with a huge anti-Trump sign.

Zach Fernandez, aka "Jesushands," is claiming responsibility for climbing the iconic bridge late Saturday night and hanging a 40 foot banner that read "Impeach." Hard to see, but there was also a smaller "You're Fired" at the bottom of it.

In case you're wondering ... the Golden Gate bridge is 220 feet above the Bay.

Zach's rep, Eli Graham, tells us Zach hopped a railing, and crept along an exterior walkway to fly the banner. It was pulled down Sunday and California Highway Patrol is investigating.

Zach was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing after turning himself in for the "Hollyweed" prank. He could be facing another misdemeanor for the Bridge stunt.

Melania Trump may be First Lady now, but she's also just an ordinary parent who sometimes forgets her son is off from school.

TMZ broke the story, Melania planned to stay in the White House Friday and Saturday night after the inauguration but returned Sunday so Barron could attend school on Monday.

She did just that, only to find out the school is closed until Wednesday for some teacher conferences.

We spoke with several parents whose kids attend the school, and they said they too were unaware the school was closed. One parent told us he got his kids dressed for school today, only to find out the doors were closed.

Former "Survivor" contestant Michael Skupin is now a registered sex offender, and on his way to prison for possession of child porn and running a Ponzi scheme.

Skupin -- who's been sentenced to up to 4 years behind bars -- is being transferred Monday to Michigan State Prison after being convicted last month.

Once Skupin gets out, some of his supervision conditions include ... no contact with any minors, staying 1,000 feet away from all schools, no owning or using a computer and random drug and alcohol testing.

As we reported ... law enforcement found Skupin's child pornography when cops were investigating his involvement in a Ponzi scheme.