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TOOELE — A man accused of eating a live baby rat and then posting a video of it on the Internet is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
Andy Ray Harris, 31, was charged in Tooele's 3rd District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor.
The video shows Harris putting a hairless baby rat into his mouth, taking a drink, chewing, swallowing and then high-fiving someone off camera, according to the Tooele Transcript.
Harris claimed he ate the rat on a dare, according to the newspaper, and that the rodent was about to be fed to a snake before he ate it.
The video was spotted by a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and a link was forwarded to the Tooele City Attorney's Office.
Monday, Assistant City Attorney Doug Bayly offered few details about the case and the Tooele City Police Department referred all calls to Bayly. A person who answered the phone in the office of Harris' attorney, Jacob Linares, on Monday said Linares was out of the office for the day.
According to court documents, the alleged incident happened on March 16 and the case was filed on April 8. The next court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
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