A Danish radio DJ killed a baby rabbit live on the air, claiming he was doing so to raise awareness about animal cruelty, Sky News is reporting.

Asger Juhl, 34, was hosting a roundtable discussion on Denmark’s Radio24syv about animal cruelty in farms across the nation. During the discussion, the radio DJ pulled out a 9-week-old rabbit, given the name “Allan,” and then bludgeoned it to death with a bicycle pump.

Juhl insisted that he killed the rabbit quickly and humanely.

“I hit it hard over the neck twice so that the cervical vertebrae fractured. I was instructed by a zookeeper from Aalborg Zoo who hits several baby rabbits every week (to feed) the snakes.”

Linse Kessler, who had been a guest for an earlier segment at the station, had tried to save the rabbit, chasing Juhl around the table, but was unsuccessful.

Juhl claims he killed the rabbit to point out the “hypocrisy” of people who campaign for animal rights, but buy meat at supermarkets that comes from animals raised in horrible conditions in factory farms, according to Zee News.

“We buy and eat animals that have had an awful life. And animals that have been killed under the same controlled conditions as the rabbit in the studio.”

Allan, by contrast, died at a young age and was spared a horrible fate, according to the radio station.

“Our rabbit has had a good life, as a contrast to the way our industrialized 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. It evokes only to a very limited extent reactions from consumers.”

In a post on the radio station’s Facebook page, Juhl claims that he skinned the rabbit and ate a meal of rabbit stew with his family.

The stunt drew heated reaction on social media, with most posts claiming that the actions of the DJ were disgusting and cruel.

“Disgusting radio station, disgusting employees. Boycott this radio station!! Killing a rabbit live on air is psychotic and barbaric! This radio station should be shut down and every employee should face charges on animal cruelty!”

However, Chef Søren Gericke claims that Danes don’t fully understand the realities of producing and eating meat.

“We are too far removed from the animals that every day we put in the shopping cart and eat. Therefore, what happened on the radio, where the host killed a rabbit and subsequently ate it, arouses fierce emotion.”

Do you believe the radio DJ was wrong to kill a rabbit live on the air? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[Image courtesy of: Shutterstock/Antonia Giroux]