sued a statement apologising for the killing and eating of a rat by I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! contestants.
The broadcaster has said it will introduce guidelines to ensure such an incident does not happen again after it emerged two contestants on the ITV1 show face criminal charges for animal cruelty.
Gino D'Acampo, who won the current series, and actor Stuart Manning have been issued with 'attendance notices' by New South Wales police and are expected in court in February, after killing the rat to cook in a risotto while in 'exile' on the jungle contest.
An ITV spokesman said on Monday: 'The RSPCA in New South Wales is carrying out its own investigation, and ITV has also made extensive enquiries regarding this incident.
'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 broadcaster's statement added: '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.
'ITV apologises for this error, and to the celebrities concerned, and will put in place procedures for next year's series to ensure that this cannot happen again.'
Chief Inspector David Oshannessy, of the New South Wales RSPCA, had said on Sunday that the killing of a rat for 'performance' was not acceptable.
The broadcaster has said it will introduce guidelines to ensure such an incident does not happen again after it emerged two contestants on the ITV1 show face criminal charges for animal cruelty.
Gino D'Acampo, who won the current series, and actor Stuart Manning have been issued with 'attendance notices' by New South Wales police and are expected in court in February, after killing the rat to cook in a risotto while in 'exile' on the jungle contest.
An ITV spokesman said on Monday: 'The RSPCA in New South Wales is carrying out its own investigation, and ITV has also made extensive enquiries regarding this incident.
'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 broadcaster's statement added: '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.
'ITV apologises for this error, and to the celebrities concerned, and will put in place procedures for next year's series to ensure that this cannot happen again.'
Chief Inspector David Oshannessy, of the New South Wales RSPCA, had said on Sunday that the killing of a rat for 'performance' was not acceptable.
No comments:
Post a Comment