ITV has been fined £1,660 for animal cruelty after celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo killed and ate a rat on reality TV series I'm a Celebrity Get Me Of Here.
The Italian chef, who was crowned King of the Jungle last December, came under fire from the RSPCA in New South Wales, Australia, after he and fellow contestant actor Stuart Manning caught, killed and cooked the rodent.
The killing happened while the pair was sent into exile and put on meagre rations of rice and beans, which prompted them to eat the rat to get "more protein".
A court in Sydney heard that the rat was initially stabbed with a knife but took a minute and a half to die suffering unnecessary pain in the process.
While D'Acampo and Manning were originally charged with animal cruelty themselves, the charges were dropped after ITV admitted that production staff allowed them to kill the rat. Apparently their only concern was whether eating the rodent would make them sick, rather than whether they were breaking any laws.
ITV was fined $3,000 (£1,660) and ordered to pay $2,500 (£1,390) in costs.
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