Man who ate rat wins cruelty case

Man who ate rat wins cruelty case

A man in Salt Lake City, Utah in the US, who is no longer facing charges for eating a live baby rat says the act was grotesque, but shouldnt be considered as animal cruelty.

Prosecutors charged Andy Ray Harris with animal cruelty in April, after authorities viewed a posted Facebook video of him eating what appeared to be the baby rat.

The 31-year-old man says he ate the rat on a dare.

Prosecutors argued the baby rat deserved protections because it wasnt wild and it was killed in a way that is not an accepted fashion.

Harris says it was not animal cruelty because the rat was going to be eaten by a snake.

He also says rats dont have legal protections because they are pests.
Source: AP

Published Oct 5 2011