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 Home > News and alerts > You are here: Animal rights group hopping mad over contest Animal rights group hopping mad over contest (5/30/2002) A national animal
rights organization wants to put an end to a 74-year-old California
tradition of frog jumping contests and the source of one of America’s
most famous folklores. The
Animal Protection Institute (API) recently issued a news release asking
for the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee to be cancelled.
The fair, which is held in Angels Camp, California, has hosted the frog
jump competition since the 1920’s. The competition attracts hundreds
of participants who compete for the $5,000 grand prize. It
is this contest that inspired Mark Twain to write one of his most famous
short stories “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”
Apparently, the animal rightists have also been inspired, but in a
negative way. The
API is spreading its animal rights message claiming that, “Like
circuses, cockfighting and greyhound racing, frog jumping promotes the
message that animals exist purely to entertain us.” It describes
conditions that the frogs are kept in before the event as “certainly
cruel and inhumane.” What’s
next? Maybe they’ll attack the re-release of Black Beauty or Lassie in
syndication? I think Mark Twain best described this situation when he said, “Get the facts first…you can distort them later.” CopyrightÓ U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance- www.ussportsmen.org
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