TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has declared that eating puppy meat is no more morally objectionable than consuming pork.

The River Cottage star has spent more than five months being a vegetarian for his latest series of the TV show and has penned non-meat recipes for a cookbook.

Fearnley-Whittingstall (46) has eaten placenta pate, curried fruit bat, giraffe and calf testicles in the past.

Asked whether he would try loin of Labrador or cat liver, he told the Radio Times: "Not unless I was on the point of starvation.

"In principle, but not in practice, I have no objection to a high-welfare organic puppy farm.

"You can't object, unless you also object to the farming of pigs. It's an artificial construct of our society to make pets out of dogs and meat out of pigs."

Asked whether his vegetarianism was a gimmick to write another book in his £1.9 million publishing deal, he told the magazine: "I don't think we're gimmicky. I started by looking at where food came from, rearing our animals and growing our food."

The chef, who has campaigned for sustainable fish and highlighted issues surrounding the mass production of chickens, said: "I like to think we're driving the agenda."

Belfast Telegraph