Respect for the Dead

LONDON, July 29, 2006 (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, British newspapers reported Saturday. "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. 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".

The Sun newspaper said there were plenty of other fish in the sea for fans of madcap British sports. Worm-charming championships, hare-pie-throwing contests and flounder trampling continue unabashed.