Radio24syv host kills nine-week old animal to highlight ‘hypocrisy in our relationship to animals’, leading to angry calls for a boycott

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A Danish radio station has killed a nine-week old rabbit live on air, saying it intended to stimulate a debate around the “widespread hypocrisy in our relationship to animals”.

Presenters brought the rabbit, which they called Alan, into the studio on Sunday morning, where he was clubbed with a bicycle pump.

Asger Juhl, one of the presenters, later took the rabbit’s body home and skinned it, saying he planned a dinner of rabbit ragoût for his children.

Radio24syv said Denmark has some of the world’s most industrialised agriculture. Its stunt provoked a strong backlash and calls for a boycott.

In a response to Radio24syv’s Facebook post, Stan Kosjaks wrote: “Don’t try and justify it you heartless bastards, the only reason you killed a small, defenceless animal on air is to boost your ratings.

“Maybe, somebody should hit you on the head with a fucking pump, see if that provokes a debate.”

Julie Schmidt wrote: “You could probably easily have had the debate on air without having to kill an animal.”

The station invited an outspoken advocate for animal rights, Linse Kessler, into the studio for the debate. When she realised the plan, Kessler chased Juhl around the studio in an attempt to rescue the rabbit.

Kessler later posted a video to Facebook in which she said she understood the point Radio24syv was trying to make, but thought killing the rabbit went too far. “I could see that the message is actually for the best of animals but I think it is wrong,” she said, according to a translation by The Local.