Announcer kills baby rabbit live on-air
A Danish talkback radio announcer has killed a 9-week old baby rabbit live on air in what he has described as an attempt to highlight animal welfare in Denmark.
The announcer, Asger Juhl, killed the baby rabbit by clubbing it three times on the back of it’s neck with a bicycle pump live on air.
His radio station, Radio 24syv has defended the segment saying that the rabbit, whose name was Allan, was killed:
“according to careful instructions by a professional animal caretaker from a Danish zoo”
The station went on to say:
“We knew we would be accused of provocation. And yes, we indeed wanted to provoke the public and to stir a debate about the hypocrisy when it comes to perceptions of cruelty towards animals.”
The radio station had invited an outspoken advocate for animal rights, Linse Kessler, into the studio for a discussion regarding animal welfare. Kessler was not told of the plan to kill the rabbit, and when it became apparent to her, she chased the announcer Juhl around the studio in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the rabbit.
Juhl took the rabbit home after the show aired, and cooked it for dinner for his family.
Throughout the broadcast, the radio station commented that Danes’ concern for animal welfare did not extend to the way that animals were killed for food, saying:
“These animals have often endured horrific suffering on their way to our dinner tables. These animals are killed according to the same controlled conditions as our studio rabbit, and without it invoking any strong reactions”
The segment has provoked a strong response around the world, including thousands of comments on Facebook, generally critical of the radio station and the announcer.
Radio 24syv listener Stan Kosjaks wrote:
“Don’t try and justify it you heartless bastards, the only reason you killed a small, defenceless animal on air is to boost your ratings. Maybe, somebody should hit you on the head with a fucking pump, see if that provokes a debate.”
Another listener wrote: “You could probably easily have had the debate on air without having to kill an animal.”
Animal rights advocate Kessler later commented that Radio24syv had crossed the line: “I could see that the message is actually for the best of animals but I think it is wrong”.
note: the video below does not show the killing of the rabbit.