In rural parts of the world, traditions sometimes involve around animals. Because many people make their livelihood in those areas from the animal agriculture, they’re accustomed to treating animals a certain way. People who are not sensitized to that kind of treatment of animals understand that it is cruel. Examples of this include opossum drops, mutton busting, rodeos, electro-shocking horses at rodeos, pigeon bowling, and more. A similar event is coming up on February 15th that animal rights activists want to put an end to.
In Ridgeland, Wisconsin, they’ll be celebrating their 38th annual Pioneer Day. The festivities may be fun for humans, but include traditions that are cruel to animals, such as the chicken toss and greased pig catching. The former involves someone tossing a chicken from a roof and the person who catches the animal gets to keep it. The latter involves making a pig slippery and having people wrestle it.
The people may not think about how it affects the animals, but if you were a chicken or pig being put through these events, you would be absolutely terrified.
See photos and a witness account below of the 2019 chicken toss:
Milwaukee Attorney Kristin Schwank told news channel WCCO: “I think animals deserve to be treated better. We really shouldn’t be using them for human entertainment.” A resident who enjoys the festival calls the tradition “stupid” and “odd,” but “fun.” How strange that people can recognize that there is something not quite right about it but excuse it because it’s entertaining.
The toss itself is cruel and terrifying, and transport there surely is even worse, but there’s also the fact that anyone who catches the chicken gets to keep it. Is the person catching the chicken going to take care of the chicken? Will it be slaughtered for food the very same day? Will a person with violent tendencies keep it and abuse it for fun? There are so many ways it can go wrong.
As PETA explains, pig wrestling is also cruel because the animals are chased, cornered, dragged, and tackled after enduring a confined transport and before being dumped and slaughtered.
Join the nearly 150,000 people speaking up and sign this petition demanding that the festival stop including animal cruelty!
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