A MAN WHO drank a goldfish as part of a Neknomination in the UK has been prosecuted by the RSPCA.
22-year-old Gavin Hope pleaded guilty to an offence under the Animal Welfare Act.
He admitted failing to meet the needs of the goldfish by not protecting it from pain, suffering, injury or disease by drinking it.
He was ordered to pay a fine of €365, a €37 victim surcharge and €524 in costs.
The RSPCA was contacted about the man swallowing his goldfish when video footage was posted on Facebook as part of the Neknomination.
RSPCA chief inspector Michelle Charlton said: “The video shows Mr Hope prepare a pint glass with lager, chilli, tequila, a fresh egg and fish food before revealing why the fish food is going in.
He picks up another glass containing a small amount of water and the goldfish, which is swimming around, and shows it to the camera before drinking it down, and following it with the pint.
A vet report advised that the stomach would be a completely unsuitable place for a goldfish and that the fish would have died in time, the cause of death being a mixture of suffocation and acid ph levels in the stomach, as well as the alcohol he drank.
Hope said that he had owned the goldfish for a couple of months and that he thought it was ill as it kept swimming into the sides of its tank.
He said he was going to flush it down the toilet but decided to drink it as part of his Neknomination challenge instead.
The court heard that it was an impulsive act which would not be repeated and of which he was ashamed.
Charlton said, “Eating a live animal and posting a video of it online for entertainment is not some light-hearted joke, it’s unacceptable”.
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