Posted on 12/06/2009 3:23:09 PM PST by FromLori
Two stars of the reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" have been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly killing and cooking a rat to eat during filming.
Chef Gino D'Acampo who won the viewer-feedback contest series, and actor Stuart Manning were charged after animal welfare activists lodged a complaint about a segment for the British TV program, which was filmed in Australia, the activists and British media reported Sunday.
In a statement to The Associated Press, New South Wales state police said Sunday that two men, aged 33 and 30, were charged with animal cruelty for acts in connection to the program but did not give names or other details. They have been asked to appear in court to face the charge on Feb. 3. The maximum penalty is three years in prison.
D'Acampo is 33 years old and Manning 30.
The show's producer, ITV, confirmed in a statement that "the New South Wales RSPCA are currently looking into an incident in which a rat was killed in the camp."
"The killing of a rat for a performance is not acceptable. The concern is this was done purely for the cameras," David O'Shannessy of the New South Wales RSPCA told the British Broadcasting Corp.
He said producers were normally required to have animal welfare officers on set when animals were used during filming, but in this case it did not take place.
"I'm a Celebrity" strands C-list celebrities in the Australian jungle, subjects them to a series of icky trials involving spiders and snakes, and allows the public to vote them off the show one by one.
Aren’t they (the insane) pushing on no meat eating?
No....really?
I’ll have the rat with the mango salsa.
People so seldom see the death of what they eat it
comes as a shock to them.
I remember the gasp that went up in survival training
before going to Nam when the instructor who was cuddling
this cute bunny, slammed it against a tree and proceeded
to dress it out. These were Marines too, they got over it. Broiled Rabbit Mmmmmmmm.
Rats are just hairless tailed squirrels,
probably better to stew them .
Now if it was a Vietnamese family it would be celebrated as diversity and considered to be a culinary delicacy.
Squirrels are yum.
If they used rat poison the next headline shall read:
“Contestant Dies of Food Poisoning”
Does the rat know why it was killed?
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/07/nyregion/fine-dining-rats-and-dogs.html?pagewanted=all
I read a story about an invention that helps the rat catchers in India (low on the caste totem pole). They send smoke into the rat borrow and then dig the rat out before it recovers and escapes. They get something like 50 cents for each rat, and can keep the rat for food, as well as any rice that the rat had stored in his den.
With this $25 invention (smoke blower) the guy said he now catches enough rats to feed his family AND more to sell that his wife roasts up. He now makes enough money to send his kids to school so they won’t have to be rat catchers.
I imagine the farm-grown rats are tastier than city rats.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.