A Danish radio host has been slammed for killing a baby rabbit while on air, but the station's owner has said it was an attempt to raise awareness of "the hypocrisy of animal welfare".
Radio24syv presenter Asger Juhl killed the nine-week-old rabbit by hitting it with a bicycle pump, Sky News reports.
The killing happened during a debate Juhl was hosting about animal welfare. He said it was to demonstrate the hypocrisy of animal rights campaigners who eat meat from supermarkets.
A guest on the show attempted to save the rabbit, but despite chasing Juhl around the table she couldn’t prevent its death.
The bunny reportedly twitched before quietly dying.
The station then posted a video to Facebook showing Juhl and co-host Kristoffer Eriksen frying and eating the rabbit.
The station responded to criticism from angry listeners by saying the rabbit has been killed "to put the widespread hypocrisy in our relationship to animals to debate".
The station said in a statement the rabbit has been killed to provoke reactions and added he was killed "in a sound manner, in accordance with the very precise instruction, as a zookeeper gave us - so the rabbit did not suffer any harm".
"Our rabbit has had a good life, as a contrast to the way our industrialised agriculture treats animals every day.
"Animals that end up in the meat counter, where most of us without any great reflection, buy slaughtered animals, who have had a terrible life."
3 News
source: newshub archive
