Photo of the Day: Protest Outside Channel 4 Over Cruelty on ‘The Island’

As part of the Channel 4 reality show The Island With Bear Grylls, contestants were filmed creeping up on a sleeping pig and plunging a knife into the animal’s neck. The pig could be heard screaming in pain and terror.

Today, a crowd of protesters made their outrage known by picketing Channel 4’s London headquarters, asking the channel to stop allowing cruelty to occur on its programmes.

We’ve also teamed up with Animal Aid, OneKind, and Vegetarians’ International Voice for Animals (VIVA) to call on the broadcaster to ensure that such violence is never aired again by implementing a proper animal-welfare policy. Our joint letter was sent after the show’s producers revealed that the pigs had been shipped to the uninhabited Pearl Islands for the show, expressly for the purpose of being killed and eaten by the contestants.

In a previous episode of the show, contestants tracked down and killed an endangered American crocodile.

Had these incidents taken place in the UK, the contestants could have faced charges and, potentially, time in prison. Torturing and killing animals is a cruel way to attempt to boost ratings and it sends an especially harmful message to young viewers, who are greatly influenced by what they see on TV.

Thousands of people have been calling on the government of Panama to press charges against Bear Grylls and the show’s contestants and producers over the sick stunt. Add your voice.