PETA

Robert Pattinson is a hero to 4-legged friends for refusing to masturbate a dog for a movie scene ... so says PETA.

The actor told Jimmy Kimmel Thursday night the director of his latest flick, "Good Time," wanted him to shoot a scene in which he pleasured a pooch, but Pattinson drew a line in the sand and refused.

PETA is now praising Pattinson, saying the scene is both a form of mistreatment and "like child molestation."

The animal rights org refers to a story TMZ broke, involving a distressed dog that appeared to have been forced to swim in raging waters in the movie "A Dog's Purpose," saying, "PETA depends on actors and crew members to come forward when they see mistreatment."

PETA says it's now on the case, trying to determine if any laws have been broken.

Kylie Jenner felt the heat from animal rights protesters, and got the hell out ... cutting short a photo op in Vegas amid chants that she has the blood of innocent animals on her hands.

Kylie was attending the grand opening of Sugar Factory Saturday night, where she paused for photos on the red carpet ... before being bum-rushed by the protesters.

Sounds like their specific beef is with Kylie wearing fur -- which she was not doing at the event, but has in the past. Protesters were loud, but never got physical with Kylie ... unlike those who nailed her sister, Kim, years ago.

Some of Kylie's furs have been advertised as fake in the past, but that clearly doesn't matter to the activists here. Faux or not ... they don't appreciate her flaunting fur.

"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.

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.

People who want to see "A Dog's Purpose" will be greeted by animal rights activists and taunted if they buy tickets and enter the theater.

PETA organizers tell TMZ they have plans to hit theaters across the country ... protesting the treatment of the animal actors in the flick. As you know, the controversy erupted after TMZ posted video of a German Shepherd in distress when a handler tried to pull the canine into the water.

The studio says the dog was treated humanely throughout the filming and the 40 second incident was harmless ... the dog was willing to go in the water but got freaked out because producers changed the point of entry.

We're told the picketers will be reminiscent of striking union workers, protesting scabs who attempt to cross the picket line.

The studio already canceled the Hollywood premiere and press junkets for fear of violence by animal rights groups.

The movie opens Friday.

Eddie Alvarez isn't the only one taking shots at Conor McGregor ... 'cause PETA is calling out the MMA superstar over the flashy mink coat he wore during the UFC 205 presser Thursday, TMZ Sports has learned.

Aside from McGregor's usual news conference antics, all eyes were on his outfit ... which featured what he claims to be an all white Gucci mink.

PETA's Senior Vice President, Lisa Lange, took notice ... and called out the Notorious for his fashion choice.

"There are few things more out of touch than draping yourself in the skins of animals who were beaten, electrocuted, and even skinned alive for their fur," Lange says.

"Real men leave the beatings in the ring -- and fight, not support, animal abuse."

Gronk isn't the only future Hall of Fame tight end to bare his buns to the world ... 'cause NFL legend Tony Gonzalez says he publicly stripped down too ... but for a good cause.

Gonzalez was out at Bristol Farms when we asked for his thoughts on Gronk's nude shoot in GQ ... and if he'd ever strip down and show off the goods himself.

Check out the clip -- Tony lets us know he beat Gronk to the punch ... saying him and the lovely wife took it all off for PETA way before Gronk actually showed Hailey Clauson his scoring machine.

Take a look below ... Tony in all his glory.

8:40 AM PT-- Hackenberger just announced he is stepping down as Director of the zoo ... but still proclaims his innocence.

Bowmanville Zoo owner Michael Hackenberger, the trainer PETA filmed whipping a tiger, has been charged with 5 counts of animal cruelty by Ontario's SPCA.

The SPCA filed the charges Wednesday after thoroughly reviewing the Bowmanville Zoo, which he owns and where he trains his animals.

The charges against Hackenberger are based on the video which surfaced 4 months ago, and include causing the animal distress by striking it with a whip handle, repeatedly striking it with a whip, and pushing his thumb into the animal’s eye.

He was also charged for failing to comply with the animal care standards required by law. In Canada, the SPCA has the right to remove animals and file charges. For now, it's only closely monitoring Hackenberger's zoo.

Jada Pinkett Smith is starting to catch heat for adorning her living room with what appears to be some sort of ivory tusk ... but we've learned it's as fake as a Big Foot sex tape.

We're told the tusks -- there are actually 2 of them -- are ceramic and hollow.

For the record, it's illegal to buy and sell elephant tusks.

Get the point?

PETA is blowing the whistle on celebrity animal trainer Michael Hackenberger by releasing a brutal video showing him whipping a tiger several times until it cowers on its back during a training session.

Hackenberger is the director of the Bowmanville Zoo in Ontario, Canada and his Hollywood credits include "The Interview," "Life of Pi" and "George of the Jungle," a Disney movie.

It's painful to watch ... Hackenberger appears to whip the animal about 20 times. At one point in the video, he admits PETA would burn his training facility to the ground if they saw his training techniques.

Hackenberger's denying PETA's claims ... he argues he was hitting the ground with his whip and that PETA sliced the video to make it look worse.

It's been a bad year for big cats.

Kim Kardashian kind of undermined a pair of animal rights advocates Thursday night, when her people got them to buy her book and then threw them out before they could meet Kim and make a fuss.

The 2 women showed up at The Grove in L.A., where hundreds of people lined up for a John Hancock on Kim's new book, "Selfish."

The women made their case to our photog after they were booted, saying Kim has the power to be a positive influence by urging her fans to stop wearing fur manufactured by horrific methods of animal torture.

Kim has never really addressed animal cruelty in the fur industry, only saying, "I believe everyone has the choice of what they want. It's not illegal to buy fur."

GoDaddy pulled its Super Bowl commercial featuring an adorable lost puppy doggy after it pissed off PETA. It's sad news for fans of hysterical commercials, puppies and also Danica Patrick.

Although DP really only lost about who .005 seconds of camera time ... so she'll be fine.

Sarah Palin is biting back at critics who blasted her for the Facebook pic of her son standing on the family dog ... and taking a shot at the dog-eating Prez in the process.

Palin took to Facebook Saturday, targeting PETA for bashing her ... calling the org hypocrites that only give passes to celebs who have helped them.

She muses, "Did you go as crazy when your heroic Man-of-Your-Lifetime, Barack Obama, revealed he actually enjoyed eating dead dog meat?" True story, Google it.

Palin accused the org. of celeb worshiping ... then adding they treat doggie Jill better than many people treat human beings.

A rep for PETA tells us, "Palin's Facebook response shows us that she knows PETA about as well as she knows geography."

The cold-hearted bastard who kicked a squirrel off a Grand Canyon ledge will absolutely be hunted down because he pissed off the wrong people ... according to actor Fisher Stevens.

Fisher was outside BOA Steakhouse last night when we told him about the insane story -- 2 French-speaking men recently used bread crumbs to lure the squirrel, and then one of them punted the poor animal into the air. Video of the crime went viral.

Now the suspects have law enforcement on their asses, but Fisher thinks the key to their capture might be PETA's $15,000 bounty.

Fisher's an animal rights advocate himself -- he won the Oscar for "The Cove" -- and thinks the killers won't get away with it while PETA's on the case.

Joan Rivers lashed out at animal rights protesters at her book signing Tuesday ... insisting she's exposing the dead animals on her back to culture.

Joan was at Barnes and Noble in Times Square hawking her new book, "Diary of a Mad Diva" ... when someone from the animal rights org asked her why she insisted on wearing fur.

Joan seems stumped at first ... then lashes out.

And then the twist ... Joan seems to say she's not in the market for buying new furs, but she's not opposed to wearing the old ones.

Joan tells the crowd the furs have 2 options ... her basement or The Met.

Bindi Irwin -- the newly-minted spokesperson/tool for SeaWorld ... will gladly talk about Australian mammals, but dare to even dance around the subject of whales and you'll get shut down.

Bindi and her mom were cruising through Rockefeller Plaza in NYC when our photog asked the 15-year-old about her favorite animal. She was all chatty until our guy switched gears and asked her if she was an animal expert ... and that's all she wrote.

The handler swooped in and shut things down, because it was clearly headed in a "Blackfish" direction.