IT AIN’T A BUGS LIFE
RSPCA calls on bosses to stop scaring critters
I’M A Celebrity has run into trouble after just 48 hours for its treatment of critters and bugs.
The RSPCA urged the show’s bosses not to use live beasts in the Bushtucker Trials after the series moved from Australia to Wales.
But on Sunday, campmates including Bev Callard took part in the Gates To Hell trial in which cockroaches, mealworms, crickets and maggots were dropped on them.
Then last night Shane Richie and Jordan North faced The Viper Vault where they had snakes crawling all over them.
The RSPCA said yesterday: “Since I’m A Celebrity first aired, animals have been dropped, thrown, handled roughly, crushed, chased, scared by contestants and prevented from escaping from stressful experiences.
“The show’s potential to prompt people to try and copy the Bushtucker Trials at home for entertainment is also worrying.
“We feel that deliberately portraying certain species as nasty or frightening or as objects that can be used purely for entertainment rather than sentient, living creatures sends out totally the wrong message.”
The RSPCA said it was pleased that the show’s bosses got in touch when planning the series in Wales, but was disappointed when they said they would continue to use animals in the trials.
It urged viewers to complain to the TV watchdog Ofcom or ITV if they believed animals were “suffering or distressed.”
A show spokesman said: “I’m A Celebrity complies with animal welfare law concerning the use of animals and we are proud of our exemplary production practices.”