ITV apologises for rat killing

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

ITV issued an apology yesterday after a rat was allegedly killed and cooked during I’m A Celebrity... and said it would tighten its procedures.

Charges are being brought against series winner Gino D’Acampo and fellow contestant Stuart Manning after the rat was apparently butchered to add to a meal.

ITV said it was an "oversight" that the production team did not check whether the killing of a rat was lawful.

"The production was asked if a rat could be caught and eaten by the celebrities in exile camp to supplement the basic rations they had been provided with for their evening meal.

"Having sought health and safety advice, the go-ahead was given purely on this basis, when it became clear that there would not be any harmful effects of eating a properly prepared and cooked rat.

"The production was unaware that killing a rat could be an offence, criminal or otherwise, in New South Wales and accepts that further inquiries should have been made – this was an oversight.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, December 08, 2009