Snake abuse on Television: Killer Karaoke

[Kinra]

I will have to look up Urban Jungles-Radio, I would like to hear what Robert Walter says.

I also would not be surprised if it was fake ice, the water was warm, contestants faked it etc. etc.... That still does not make it ok to dump live animals into deep water with a freaked out person flailing around. The contestant in the video could easily have injured and or killed an animal especially when she was pulled back out of the water and they were hanging around her.

There will always be some dramatization, but it is evident that live animals were used, and it could have caused death or injury to the animals, that in its self is enough to get people upset, no matter the amount of dramatization.

I wasn't trying to imply that any of the safety measures they may or may not have taken make it okay. I was simply trying to present a different side of the story that I had heard. I have no proof that anything that he said was true, other than my own person opinion that the contestants didn't look like they had been dunked into ice cold water like some have been implying. I do agree that the snakes could have been injured while being removed from the water, but she wasn't dunked or removed at a very fast speed.

As I said, I don't support this at all but there is always another side to every story.

Steve-O does not run the show or choose the stunts. The comments here directing the frustration over this toward him are mind boggling.


Also, I remember the Fear Factor thread. The guy who supplied the snakes actually made an account here to explain that they practiced the stunt multiple times to make sure the contestant understood how to keep the animals safe and they rotates snakes in from a van full of racks with proper conditions to make sure that no single snake was subjected to stress for an extended time.


I do NOT condone the video or the practice, but I agree with Kinra that I think a lot of the 'animal abuse' claims can be chalked up to reality TV gimmicks. These people have a LOT to lose if someone cared to prove them to be abusing the animals, so I do believe they have themselves covered on stunts like this. Perhaps we should blame animal cruelty laws? I am unaware of them or if they change based on species or anything, but I could see them making stricter laws for dogs than reptiles.

I believe this Robert guy is the one who supplied the snakes for the Fear Factor episode, but he says he refused to use any of his animals in this stunt.

Rebecca, thanks for the info. If that is the case then it isn't so bad. But no one can deny that throwing a hundred or so terrestrial snakes into deep water won't cause the animals a great amount of stress. It is so sad that people are defending the actions of this stupid show!

I wasn't trying to defend the actions of the show. I think this was very wrong, but I was trying let people know it is possible it is not the total nightmare they think it is. I still can't believe the clip I saw with two alligators swimming around instead of the burm.

Robert (the head wrangler) did say in one comment that the show had originally planned to use an ice bath, but they were able to get that changed. Hollywood seems to have no care for living animals, they just care about what will bring in the most money.