Department Of Irony

You almost have to read this twice before the absurdity actually hits you. It seems the the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has come down foursquare against cane toad golf. An Australian city, Townsville, had produced some tongue-in-cheek slogans for promoting the city about the most fun things to do while visiting. 

Animal welfare groups are outraged by an Australian city that has advocated the sport of "cane toad golf" - beating to death the country's most notorious pest with golf clubs, cricket bats or anything else that comes to hand.

The RSPCA has condemned Townsville, in Queensland, for encouraging cruelty to the toads, which were introduced to Australia 70 years ago to prey on sugar cane beetles.

To promote civic pride in the city, a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, the council has produced a list of the best activities the city has to offer.

On promotional beer coolers, it ranked "cane toad golf" alongside eating mud crab sandwiches, encountering saltwater crocodiles on the local beach and "bagging a barra" - catching a wild barramundi fish.

Michael Beattie, a RSPCA spokesman, said that encouraging cruelty was "irresponsible".

"We accept that cane toads are a menace and they need to be eradicated. However, hitting them with golf clubs is inhumane and ineffective."

Read that last line again. Now, look, I wouldn't advocate playing cane toad golf, but I really have a hard time seeing this as anything but trying to be funny. Cane toads are basically killing every other living thing on the continent at this point and the Aussies are having to organize clubbing parties as it is. But for the RSPCA to say they must be eradicated then turn around and waste their credibility by denouncing what is a rather obvious joke is kind of silly.

Besides, everyone knows golf clubs don't work. Cane toad baseball is the way to go. Louisville Sluggers, baby. (Oh, darn, now I've gone and upset them, haven't I?)

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  By old_dawg, Friday, 8 June , 2007 @ 3:16 pm

  Best be wearing goggles when you use the LS. Those things “splat” quite a bit.

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