Australia's leading animal-rights group is demanding CBS turn over unedited footage from Survivor: The Australian Outback on behalf of the porker that wound up getting skewered and grilled on the show.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals wants to screen the tapes to see if Kucha tribesman Michael Skupin violated the country's animal-cruelty laws.
"Once we've obtained it we will view it with our solicitors to determine whether or not an actual offense has been committed," RSPCA chief inspector Bryon Hall tells the British entertainment Website Ananova. "If we believe there's been an offense committed then it's likely the offender will be charged."
The incident occurred during filming of Survivor 2 last year and aired during February sweeps. Before an edited version of the slaying was shown, CBS put up a disclaimer cautioning viewers about the graphic images.
The edited version of the episode showed the 39-year-old Skupin stalking the slow-moving wild piglet (which supposedly had been flushed from its habitat by a wildfire), followed by a squeal and a cut to Skupin wielding a bloody knife and daubing his face with blood. After a shot of the pig carcass, Skupin said, "I feel better about my position [in the tribe] now that I've made this kill."
Since the episode aired in February, prominent animal-rights groups worldwide such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Humane Society and RSPCA have gone to war with CBS, putting pressure on the network to come clean with the tapes. Several groups have alleged CBS staged the pig hunt.
"CBS has not been forthcoming [about the footage], which we believe means they have something to hide," says PETA president Ingrid Newkirk. "The Australian authorities are chomping at the bit but they have yet to see it."
The network, meanwhile, disputes the allegations and says it has yet to hear from the RSPCA. "We are not aware of any formal request for footage," says CBS spokesman Gil Schwartz. "We will cooperate fully...as we believe very strongly that there was no wrongdoing on the part of CBS or the producers."
Still, animal-rights activists believe their claims have gained more credence in light of Survivor creator Mark Burnett's revelations that he used doubles in place of contestants to reenact certain scenes in the show.
According to Newkirk, the U.S. Attorney's office in California is also reportedly looking into the pig killing and had received the unedited footage from CBS.
Calls to the U.S. Attorney's office, however, were not returned.
Newkirk says that backlash from the pig killing has prompted India's Minister of Culture, Monica Gandhi, to pull the show off the air in that country. Newkirk also says PETA has gotten reports from Kenya that the Survivor: Africa crew had been wreaking havoc on local scrublands as its readies the set for the third installment of the popular reality series, which begins shooting this week. (Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reports CBS is statioining a member of the network's standards and practices division on site in Kenya to make sure all is, pardon the pun, kosher.)
As for the Aussie complaint, even if charges are eventually filed against Skupin, the chances of him being extradited are extremely slim.
Of course, the erstwhile Survivor has had his share of bad karma since slaying the swine. He was evacuated from the Outback after falling into a fire and burning his hands and, just last month, was pepper-sprayed by an animal-rights activist upset over the pig killing.