Four men allegedly involved in an Australian pub competition where live mice were chewed up and spat out appeared in court on Thursday on animal cruelty charges.
The four — two contestants accused of chewing on the mice and two comperes who allegedly egged them on — face fines of Aus$75,000 ($52,500) and two years imprisonment if found guilty.
Animal rights group RSPCA brought the charges after complaints from horrified patrons of the Exchange Hotel in Brisbane who saw the so-called ”Jackass” competition in April.
Competition organisers dared entrants to stick pins into each other’s nipples until they bled then drink a cocktail of cat food, cayenne pepper and dishwashing detergent.
In the competition’s final, the RSPCA alleges the entrants were invited to put a mouse in their mouth and bite off its tail to win a Aus$500 ($350) holiday.
Two men took up the dare and one compere allegedly shouted ”the first one to eat it, wins”.
The RSPCA has described the competition as an act of ”outrageous cruelty”.
The men were not required to enter a plea and the case was adjourned until next month. — Sapa-AFP