A reality show from British network ITV featured the untimely death and consumption of a rat, and led to a fine for animal cruelty levied by an Australian court. The show was "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here."
Originally charged were the two cast members who participated in the incident, in which a rat was stabbed with a knife, allowed to perish and then converted into a meal. But ITV admitted that the show’s producers had approved the sequence and the network took the rap.
It wasn’t the slaughtering of the rat that caused the fine, according to a Reuters report. It was the manner of it. It took a minute and a half for the animal to die, which was deemed unnecessary cruelty. ITV said it was unaware of the body of law which landed it in court and promised to be much more careful in the future.
The network was ordered to pay A$3K, said to be $2.6K in US currency, along with A$2.5K for court costs.
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