A sick video shows workers laughing as they pour boiling water onto screaming rats trapped in a bin.
The RSPCA is investigating after the distressing footage, believed to have originated on Snapchat, was shared on Facebook and seen by several people.
In the clip, a man can be heard saying ‘two rats in the bin’ before a kettle of steaming hot water is poured onto them.
High-pitched squeals can be heard as one of the men continues to pour water onto the rats while others stand by and laugh.
A male voice can be heard saying ‘ooh, they’ve gone quiet’ before the camera pans over to the bin. One worker says ‘they’re dead’ while another laughs, adding, ‘instantly, they’re literally dead instantly’.
It is not clear where the incident took place.
One person who shared the video claimed it was a group of local recycling collectors in Plymouth, but the City Council strongly refuted this, telling PlymouthLive their staff did not wear the orange short-sleeved safety jackets worn by the men.
A spokesperson for national waste management company Biffa added that managers who examined the footage were certain that none of their staff were involved and that it was not filmed at a Biffa unit.
The spokesperson added that Biffa did not have a unit in Plymouth and none of the units they did have in the country had a dartboard, shown in the first couple of seconds of the clip.
A spokesperson for RSPCA said they had also been sent the footage today and were aware of its contents.
As a result, inspectors had been alerted to the matter and they were now carrying out an investigation.
The RSPCA can investigate and prosecute cases of animal cruelty, and last year secured 1,432 convictions.
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