An Australian man has appeared in court on animal cruelty charges - after allegedly biting the head off a live rat in a video he posted on Facebook. Matthew Maloney, who refers to himself as “Mad Matt”, uploaded a clip which appeared to show him storming into a room, performing the depraved act, and then washing the rat’s head down with three shots of vodka. Moments later, the 24-year-old’s friends punch him in the face and break a chair over his back - with Maloney turning to the camera and saying: “Beat that.”
I killed that rat 10 times quicker than the snake could of.
'Mad’ Matthew Maloney
The clip, viewed more than 230,000 times on Facebook, soon attracted the attention of the RSPCA, who staged a raid on Maloney’s Brisbane home in January. As hundreds of people wrote comments deploring his actions, Maloney told them: “That rat in the video was a feeder rat and was always going to die. I fed the body to my snake after the video and it wasn’t wasted (I like to share)." He accused those who had rat poison or rat traps in their homes of being hypocrites. Maloney made no plea during his brief appearance at Brisbane Magistrates’ Court, and officials have confirmed the case has been adjourned until 6 April.