Fans complain at 'Celeb' horses treatment

Viewers have complained about the treatment of horses in an I'm A Celebrity challenge during Sunday night's opening episode.

Camilla Dallerup, Justin Ryan, Stuart Manning and Jimmy White were asked to ride into the Australian jungle for their first group task. However, only Ryan had previous experience of working with the animals and the celebrities struggled when they had to take the animals across a river.

Readers of Horse and Hound magazine and DS forum users have expressed concern about the treatment of the animals, with many claiming that they looked in distress.

"It [the use of horses] was absolutely disgusting," said one Horse & Hound reader. "They had four 'celebrities' ride horses across a river. The horses had to swim and the terror was evident in their eyes as they struggled with the current and with the fools hanging out of their mouths. It made for very uncomfortable viewing and I feel really angry about this."

Forum user burton07 added: "There is enough money pumped into this show so I fail to see why they have to include live animals as entertainment. I agree it was cruel to have the horses struggling through the water with incompetent riders on their backs. Horses can swim but when they are impeded by a stupid celeb flailing around on top then that is cruel and unnecessary."

An ITV spokesperson told DS: "The horses are specifically trained to trek through water and swim on a daily basis. The celebrities were given a full and thorough briefing before they took part in the trek, and were accompanied at all times by expert handlers."

However, a RSPCA spokesperson has questioned the broadcaster's use of animals of the reality show. "We share the strong concerns many viewers have about the continued use of animals in ITV's I'm A Celebrity," they commented.

"The use of animals in this way is completely unacceptable and could easily injure or cause great distress to the animals involved. There is no excuse for using animals in stunts that carry a high risk of them being harmed and we believe the series gives out a very irresponsible message to viewers about how to treat animals."