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Five recent movies have slapped the “No animals were harmed” disclaimer on their end-credits without the permission of the organization that trademarked the phrase.

The American Humane Association, which monitors movie productions in which animals appear, says the five movies used the disclaimer without its approval.

The association has sent the studios and distributors connected to each production a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the unauthorized disclaimers be removed immediately from the theatrical and DVD versions of the movies.

The association identified the movies as:

Adam by Olympus Pictures, Deer Path Productions, Serenade Films, Vox3 Films.

District 9 by WingNut Films Limited, Key Creatives and LLC/QED Intl.

Easy Virtue by Ealing Studios, Fragile Films, Endgame Ent., Odyssey Ent.

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Number 9 Films.

Shrink by Ignite Entertainment, Ignite Productions, Ithaka Entertainment and Trigger Street Productions.

American Humane said the registered disclaimer, when properly obtained, assures the public that animal actors used in productions were not killed or injured in any way, and that their well-being and safety were monitored by the association’s certified animal safety representatives.

The 130-year-old organization said the movie companies are misleading the public and creating “a significant breach of trust with audiences” by inserting the credit without authorization.

Some of the studios and producers have indicated they will remove the illegitimate credit, while others are making excuses or taking no action, American Humane said.

“We encourage filmmakers to work with American Humane, and for distributors to verify the legitimacy of the ‘No Animals Were Harmed’® credit, before approving and finalizing any film prints for theatrical release or DVD distribution,” said Karen Rosa, American Humane’s vice president in charge of its Film & TV Unit.  “Viewers, too, should always look for the ‘No Animals Were Harmed’® end credit, and they can check our website to see what rating we assigned to films, based on their use of animals, and to find out how the animal action was achieved on films that we monitored.”