Anne Hathaway has called for films featuring dog deaths to be 'automatically rated R'.

The actress, 43, claimed viewers are being left 'traumatised' by the depiction of dying canines on screen, so should be slapped with an R rating, which requires a viewer to be over 17 and is the equivalent of an 18 rating in the UK. 

Speaking to Complex Pop, Anne gave her impassioned view on the subject and insisted cursing and violence 'do not matter' but dog deaths are nonnegotiable. 

She referenced the four-part John Wick franchise, in which the first movie in 2014 saw the titular character's beagle puppy Daisy brutally killed by Russian mobsters – a plotline frontman Keanu Reeves fought to keep in the film.

Anne, who is plugging her new movie The End of Oak Street, said: 'I feel like movies that kill dogs should automatically be rated R. It doesn't matter if anybody curses, it doesn't matter if there's violence… If a dog dies, it's R-rated.'

'I think everybody's so traumatized by John Wick. Because I've been seeing those too, like, "They better not kill the dog". I'm like, which movies are out there killing dogs? That everybody's so scared that we're just casually doing it in movies now.'

Anne and her husband Adam Shulman have two dogs; a chocolate labrador named Esmeralda and a spaniel-terrier mix named Kenobi.

They are parents to Jonathan, 10, and Jack, six, and are expecting their third child.  

The End of Oak Street, also starring Ewan McGregor, follows a couple and their two children who live on an ordinary 1980s street until a cosmic event rips their street out of suburbia and into a prehistoric world populated by dinosaurs.

The family have an Australian cattle dog called Starbuck. 

Anne praised the pooch, gushing: 'Starbuck is the undisputed star of the film. You just put a camera on him and you fall in love.'

As well as John Wick, some of the most memorable films featuring dog deaths include 1957's Old Yeller, which is G rated meaning any age can watch, 2008's Marley And Me, which is PG-13 meaning 13 and up and 2007s I Am Legend which is PG-13. 

Fans swarmed the comments section on the video of the interview to agree with the star with many guiding filmgoers to the website www.doesthedogdie.com, to check ahead of time if there is a canine killing in a film. 

Users wrote: 'I was so mad at my husband when we saw the Odyssey for this reason. I don’t care how many people die, but if a dog gets hurt or killed, I can’t suspend disbelief...

'He knew I wouldn’t go if he had told me, and I’m glad I saw the movie, but I WILL be checking doesthedogdie.com before any movie we go to from here on out... 

'The one time I don’t mind spoilers. If the dog dies I’m not watching the movie no matter the good reviews... There is a website y’all. doesthedogdie.com.