I fear for the survival of one of our staunchest allies when a single, anonymous so-called animal rights activist can bring a time honored tradition to an end. When England is no longer safe for "Conger Cuddling", it effects freedom everywhere. I mean banning the team sport of beating one another with a dead eel is simply not right.
LONDON (AFP) – Battering one other with a dead eel has been a favoured old tradition in one British town for decades, but a new ban has curtailed the fishy fun and sparked local anger.
"Conger cuddling" has been staged annually in Lyme Regis on the southern English coast for 32 years to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) charity, British newspapers reported Saturday.
Two teams stand on wooden blocks and take turns to knock their opponents off by swinging a five-foot (1.5-metre) dead eel on a rope at them, The Daily Telegraph said.
The oddball antics attracted around 3,000 locals and amused tourists to the charity fundraiser.
But a single complaint by an animal rights activist has put a stop to it after claiming the bizarre sport is disrespectful to dead animals.
The RNLI took conger cuddling off the menu after threats were made to film the contest and stir up a nationwide campaign against it.
Richard Fox, 67, who invented the wacky sport, was seething at the ban.
"It's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard," he raged.
"How can you be disrespecting an animal's rights when it's dead? The eel isn't even caught — it's trapped by accident in fishermen's nets. One person has spoiled the enjoyment of many."
Mayor Ken Whetlor also raged against the protest, calling the complaint writer "a gutless troublemaker with nothing better to do than stop people enjoying an innocent event that helps to save lives."
"Next they'll be telling us it's unethical to use whitebait to catch mackerel".
A sad day indeed when you can't enjoy a friendly game of eel bashing. The good news, though, is that it's still legal to trample a flounder in Scotland. For now.
Let’s be more precise with our words, shall we? This isn’t an animal rights activist, but a “dead animal” rights activist.
He’d probably be happier if we used dead babies instead.