<div id="subtitle">Broadcaster fined for animal cruelty in Australia after reality show contestants kill, eat rat</div><div><p>A British broadcaster has been convicted of animal cruelty after two reality show contestants skinned, cooked and ate a rat during filming in Australia.</p><p>ITV Studios, producer of "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," was fined 3,000 Australian dollars ($2,615) after pleading guilty Monday, the Australian RSPCA said Tuesday.</p><p>The RSPCA filed a complaint in December against show participants chef Gino D'Acampo and actor Stuart Manning who prepared the risotto-and-rat meal on the wilderness show late last year.</p><p>Animal activists said the rat squealed in apparent pain and took more than 90 seconds to die.</p><p>After ITV's guilty plea, the RSPCA decided to drop its complaints against D'Acampo and Manning, according to a statement from David O'Shannessy, chief inspector for the New South Wales state RSPCA. If convicted, the men could have faced up to three years in prison.</p><p>The conviction confirms that killing and preparing an animal for human consumption should not involve unnecessary pain, distress or suffering of the animal, O'Shannessy said.</p><p>ITV previously said producers had sought health and safety advice about eating the rat but failed to check whether killing it was legal.</p><p>"I'm a Celebrity" strands C-list celebrities in the Australian wilderness, subjects them to trials involving spiders and snakes, and allows the public to vote them off the show one by one.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=68745192&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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