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Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters
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Radio host bludgeons baby rabbit to death live on air May 26, 2015 Dailystar.co.uk Asger Juhl was hosting a debate on animal welfare when he beat the bunny to death. He said he killed the rabbit to demonstrate the hypocrisy of animal campaigners who eat meat from supermarkets. Juhl hit the nine-week-old rabbit Alan over the head three times with a bicycle pump. The rabbit is said to have twitched several times before dying quietly. Danish TV personality and animal rights campaigner Linse Kessler was in the studio having taken part in an earlier discussion. She talked her way back in to try and save Alan but, after chasing Juhl around a table, was unsuccessful. Kessler told Daily Star Online: "I was chasing him around and I could see the production staff laughing. They thought it was funny. "They said they were going to kill the baby rabbit for meat. I said, 'Can't you see how little meat is on this animal?' "The animal didn't have to die." Juhl took Alan's body home to skin it with his two children, aged six and eight. They are planning to cook rabbit ragout. Since the show was broadcast there have been protests across social media. Twitter user Mark Lief said: "Sickening how @Radio24syv presenter Asger Juhl has killed a rabbit 'on air' so as to prove a point to animal rights protesters. #firehim" And Simon Edward tweeted: "Asger Juhl should be seriously reprimanded for what he did. Few things rile me up more than people abusing animals with lame justifications." Mimi Bekhechi, director of global animal rights group PETA, also criticised Juhl for killing the rabbit. She said: "Beating an animal to death in a desperate attempt to improve ratings is sickening behaviour that should not go unpunished. PETA is urging that Asger Juhl be charged with cruelty to animals. "We also ask all the listeners who care about animals and are rightly upset by the death of Allan the rabbit to take a moment to consider the other millions of intelligent and sensitive animals just like Allan who are denied everything that's natural and important to them and are killed by having their throats slit or in other equally terrifying ways. "The qualities of their cooked flesh are no justification for their miserable lives and frightening deaths. We have the power to end their suffering by making the simple choice not to eat them." Responding to the backlash, Juhl told BBC Radio 4: "Many people in Denmark are frustrated about us killing the rabbit but at the same time they are having meat for dinner. "They are not taking into account that you are supposed to kill an animal before you eat meat. "Let me ask you a question. Why would it be wrong to kill an animal and then eat it?" When asked why he used a bicycle pump, he said: "I was very humane. I discussed this with people at the zoo before I did it. "They use an iron stick [to kill animals]. I didn't have an iron stick at home – so I used a bicycle pump." Last year at Copenhagen Zoo a baby giraffe called Marius was killed and dissected in front of children, causing international outrage. Marius was then fed to the lions. Radio24syv has been approached for comment. Fire radio presenter Asger Juhl who killed 'Allan' the rabbit live on air May 26, 2015 change.org petition To: Radio24syv Jorgen Ramskov, managing director and chief editor A Danish radio station has been criticised for killing a baby rabbit during a live show in what the station's owners say was an attempt to raise awareness of "the hypocrisy of animal welfare". The Radio24syv presenter Asger Juhl was hosting a debate on animal welfare when he hit nine-week-old Allan with a bicycle pump. Mr Juhl, 34, carried out the killing, saying it was to demonstrate the hypocrisy of animal rights campaigners who eat meat from supermarkets. Linse Kessler, who had been part of an earlier discussion in the studio, talked her way back inside in a bid to save Allan but, despite chasing Mr Juhl around the table, she could not prevent the bunny's fate. The rabbit reportedly twitched several times before quietly dying. A statement from the radio station read: "We ensured that we killed the rabbit in a sound manner, in accordance with very precise instructions that were given to us by a zookeeper– so the rabbit did not suffer any harm." "It is not our wish to offend anyone with this debate. And we regret that many people have misunderstood our message," the station added. "But we hope that this heated debate creates better conditions for animals in Danish agriculture.” Public misinformed about 'humane' animal products; AWI Report; meat recalls regular; HSUS |