The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have criticized the star of an upcoming special set to air on The Discovery Channel, for allowing himself to be swallowed by a giant snake.
The Telegraph reported that the animal rights group has spoken out against the stunt in which Paul Rosolie will wear a “snake-proof suit” and film himself being eaten by an anaconda.
“This blatant publicity stunt sounds far-fetched, but if the description is accurate, the snake was tormented and suffered for the sake of ratings – as animals usually do when they’re used for entertainment,” PETA said in a statement.
The organization went on to say that this particular stunt exhausted the "poor animal" and have asked The Discovery Channel to pull the show. However, the network has not announced any plans to scrap it and Rosolie has been promoting the program via Twitter. He also used the social media site to respond to PETA and other groups that have criticized the show’s premise.
All the negative attention has caused a lot of publicity for the scheduled special and the network is hoping for some big ratings when the program airs next month.
Some people are uncertain if the whole thing is just a hoax, but for anyone who is going to tune in to see if Rosolie made it out alive, his active Twitter account suggests that he did.