ITV fined for animal cruelty

ITV was fined for animal cruelty after contestants on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! killed and ate a rat, the Australian RSPCA said yesterday.

Celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo and Hollyoaks actor Stuart Manning killed the animal with a knife when they were left without meat on the series.

Chief Inspector David O Shannessy, from the RSPCA, said ITV was fined AUS $3,000 (€1,900) and will pay $2,576 in costs.

He said: “The animal was killed for a TV show, that’s not appropriate. The raw footage indicates that, from the first attempt, it took about 90 seconds before it actually died.”

ITV said it would make sure that nothing similar happened in future series, and would take advice from the RSPCA on the necessary training involved.