Bear Grylls show accused of 'callous disregard for life' as 450 complain

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/may/13/bear-grylls-pig-the-island

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Channel 4 has been accused of “killing animals to boost ratings” after contestants slashed the throat of a pig on its Bear Grylls reality show which has attracted nearly 500 complaints from viewers.

Animal welfare groups including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Channel 4 had shown a “callous disregard for life” on the show, The Island with Bear Grylls.

Four women were shown creeping up to a sleeping pig before plunging a knife into its throat. The pig could be heard squealing throughout.

It followed a previous episode of the show in which its male contestants accidentally killed and ate a rare species of crocodile.

Channel 4 said it had so far received about 450 complaints about the show, a large number of which are understood to relate to the pig and crocodile killings.

Media regulator Ofcom said on Wednesday it had received 16 complaints about the show and was considering whether to launch an investigation.

Peta director Mimi Bekhechi said: “There is simply no excuse for this kind of callous disregard for life. TV producers and broadcasters can entertain audiences without resorting to cruelty to animals.”

In the letter to Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham, signed by Peta, Animal Aid, OneKind, and Viva!, the groups said they were “outraged to see that contestants were filmed slashing the throat of a terrified pig.

“Had this taken place in the UK, the contestants could face charges and, potentially, time in prison. The producers revealed that the pigs had been shipped to the uninhabited Pearl Islands for the show, expressly so that they could be killed and eaten by contestants.

“Torturing and killing animals is a cruel way to attempt to boost ratings and sends an especially harmful message to your young viewers, who are greatly influenced by what they see on TV. It is this kind of outright disregard for animals that keeps caseworkers inundated with cruelty-to-animals reports year-round.

“We strongly urge you, as chief executive of Channel 4, to ensure that this kind of violence is never aired again by implementing a proper animal-welfare policy. We stand ready to meet with you about this important issue.”

Channel 4 defended the scenes, saying an important part of the show was finding out if the contestants were capable of “hunting and killing for meat” and they had all been trained in killing animals humanely.

“An important part of the experiment was to find out if the men and women were capable of surviving alone and able to find sources of food, including hunting and killing for meat; a vital part of their survival as it is a source of valuable calories and protein,” said the broadcaster.

“All islanders were trained in the humane capture and dispatch of live animals and the animals were killed humanely.”

The latest furore comes after Channel 4 was forced to apologise last month after hungry male contestants on the show hunted down and ate a crocodile which was later revealed to be a protected endangered species.

Channel 4 said it was a “genuine and regrettable error” with a type of crocodile “not known to be in the area or on the island”.

The second series of the survival show, which was expanded to include women after the first series was criticised for only featuring men, is a big hit for Channel 4 with overnight ratings of 2.5 million and consolidated audiences, including people who recorded it and watched it later, of more than 3 million.

It returned to Channel 4 last month after a hit first series which won a Bafta award last Sunday.

But critics accused the launch series of misleading viewers after it emerged that some of the contestants worked in TV, had experience of survival or had worked with Grylls before. Producers also set up a water supply and transported two crocodiles to the island for food.

Channel 4’s head of factual entertainment Liam Humphreys later described the show as “completely robust, there was no fakery. We explained we had a duty of care to keep the guys alive, it was the dry season and we needed to make sure they didn’t run out of water. It’s all in the voiceover”.