Florida Radio Shock Jock Charged with Animal Cruelty

By Steve Wilson

TAMPA, Florida, March 30, 2001 (ENS) - A popular Florida radio disc jockey known as Bubba the Love Sponge is soaking up nothing but trouble in wake of what prosecutors charge was an illegal act of animal cruelty disguised as a publicity stunt to boost ratings. The WXTB radio personality was charged with felony animal cruelty last night and booked at the county jail.

Struggling to win the Tampa radio ratings battle in the lucrative morning drive time slot, Bubba and his producer staged what they called a "road kill barbeque" that led to the castration and slaughter of a wild boar in the station parking lot last month while listeners were treated to a graphic play-by-play of the event.

The boar is killed in the parking lot of radio station WXTB. (Photos courtesy ADAPTT)

According to a criminal report affidavit that police used to obtain arrest warrants for the announcer, his producer and two others, the wild boar was tormented and castrated for entertainment purposes. Its throat was slit, and it bled to death as a result.

The February 27 incident on WXTB Rock 98 outraged so many Tampa citizens that animal rights groups are leading an advertiser boycott and the Federal Communications Commission is investigating complaints that the broadcast was obscene.

Station management first denied any involvement in the stunt but later, as major advertisers began pulling their ads off the station, the announcer was suspended for two weeks. The station issued a statement calling the broadcast "highly distasteful" and admitting Bubba "showed poor judgment."

Hunter Paul Lauterberg holds decapitated boar's head following the slaughter.

Adding fuel to the firestorm, graphic pictures of the slaughter were posted on the announcer's website showing the animal before and after it was killed. One of the pictures showed an unidentified man holding the boar's severed head as a trophy in front of a Mercedes-Benz that sports Bubba's personalized licensed plate.

A listener downloaded the pictures just before the controversy led the webmaster to remove them. Shortly after officials denied any such pictures existed, they were posted on the website of a local animal rights organization known as ADAPTT, Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow.

Charged along with Bubba and his producer Brent Hatley, was the hunter, Paul Lauterberg, who reportedly caught the boar in the North Florida woods and brought it to the station, and a listener seen in the photos holding the animal down as it was castrated and slaughtered.

Conviction could land each of the men in jail for up to five years.

Unidentified man holds boar's head in front of Bubba's license plate.

Following his booking, Bubba was entirely unrepentant. He agreed the stunt may well have been in bad taste but insisted it did not violate any criminal statute.

The announcer's legal name is Bubba The Love Sponge. Born Todd Clem, he recently changed his name in court and now even his Florida drivers license is in the name of Bubba The Love Sponge.

Bubba and his producer were back on the air this morning following a statement by WXTB general manager Dan Diloreto that "our employees are prepared to prove they are innocent of the felony animal cruelty charges."

The charges come on the heels of the conviction of Denver disc jockey Stephen Meade of KBPI-FM radio earlier this month. Meade was found guilty of animal cruelty charges after he entertained his audience with the toss of a live chicken from the second floor window of KBPI. When the bird survived the fall, it was carried up to the third floor and tossed again before a listener rushed to the station and rescued the injured chicken.

Both stations are owned by Clear Channel Communications based in San Antonio, Texas, the nation's largest broadcasting chain. Clear Channel owns, programs, or sells airtime for 1,170 radio stations throughout the United States. It has equity interests in more than 240 radio stations internationally.

-- Roman (lions@collesium.com), April 01, 2001

Answers

Great, just great!

Now you're gonna have cin all worked up in a lather...

-- baby back ribs (eat@them.up.yum), April 01, 2001.

Well, this has me worked up in a lather.

-- Peter Errington (petere@ricochet.net), April 01, 2001.

You called that one!

This has been happening for ages, sad as it is. It happens every day. And help me to understand why THIS would bother someone who consumes slaughtered animals, disguised as neatly wrapped packages of roast and bacon?

warning: graphic photos of where your big mac comes from

-- (cin@cin.cin), April 01, 2001.

owned by Clear Channel Communications based in San Antonio, Texas, the nation's largest broadcasting chain.

Nothing like down to earth, good old boy Texas mentality.....
All roads appear to be leading to the same places, Florida and Texas. Is this what we can expect as the entire country becomes "southernized"?

And lies, they lied about the pictures being on their website. Guess it is a "good ole boy" thing, telling lies, cover up the truth, never accepting responsibility for personal behavior. Character? Who need character when juvinile behavior is condoned and excused?

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), April 01, 2001.

Yeah that's right Cherri, all of us who live in Florida and Texas are dumb fucking redneck asshole liars and bigots who torture animals for fun and profit. Nice wide brush you have there, how in the hell do you paint trim with that thing?

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), April 01, 2001.

Hey Cherri-

You and I agree on a lot of issues, but on this one, you're just plain nuts.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), April 02, 2001.

Cherri -

I think you went over the top a bit on your last post. We've got people up here who lie, torture animals and are generally uncouth and unpleasant. Doesn't mean that all Canucks are that way inclined. Same applies to the South. People are people, there's good and bad everywhere.

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), April 02, 2001.

I warned everyone six months ago hairy cherri was stupid. I also warned you she has smelly armpits so consider yourselves reminded.

Ohhhh Poole! This is your cue to step in and defend your girlfriend again. (Don't even think for a moment we didn't know you were "White@Knight.Camelot" either.)

-- (Tired @of her.crap), April 02, 2001.

Then there is Prof Singer a "bioethicist" from Princeton, already on record for infanticide of new-born disableds, who now weighs in for bestiality (animal rape?).

What does it cost/year to send a kid to Princeton?

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), April 02, 2001.

I for one truly enjoy wild boar fresh off the pit..its actually has a finer texture than cat,but can be gamey if not cleaned properly and marinated in milk..

-- meat be meat (cats be cats but bo@r.be better), April 02, 2001.