Hollywood Animal Trainer ... Footage Surfaces of Vicious Tiger Whipping

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.