June 17, 2016

Stoughton Fair cancels pig wrestling event because of all the criticism and concern for the pigs — who might be physically or emotionally injured.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports.
In pig wrestling, people of all ages chase the animal around a muddy pen, trying to grab the slippery pig and place it on a barrel in the center of the ring before time expires. Pig wrestling has been a decades-long tradition at many fairs and similar events, drawing huge crowds of spectators.
So much for tradition! It was overcome by an online petition run by the Madison-based Alliance for Animals and the Environment. How does Madison wield such influence over Stoughton?

I thought the reason not to pig wrestle was: "You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." Now, we're asked to believe the pig doesn't like it?

69 comments:

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Emotionally injured? It's tough to take that seriously.
I'm not at all surprised to see people oppose it, though. They could make a case that it's cruel to the animals, I'd buy that.
The reasons given could have been worse, really (just think about it for a moment).

Don't needlessly stress out future-bacon, people.

Chuck said...

I think you were mistaking "pig" for Donald Trump. An understandable mixup. Have a very nice weekend.


mockturtle said...

Whew! That's a relief! I was afraid it was because it might offend Muslims.

rehajm said...

Alliance for Animals and the Environment? I'll take them seriously when they stand in front of the Orkin Man.

TWW said...

I would be interested in seeing the tests that objective measure whether and the extent to which pigs are emotionally injured.

Lucien said...

The pig has to unambiguously manifest consent at each stage of the proceeding. If you're not sure how this works, imagine you were offering the pig a cup of tea.

The Elder said...

"How does Madison wield such influence over Stoughton?"

Proximity.

Temujin said...

They first tried to just give a trophy to all participants, but the pigs were still seen to be slipping in their self-esteem. Nothing so sad as a pig down in the dumps. So, the only other option was to just cancel the matches. Somewhere in Stoughton is a box of Pig/Man trophies. Have a nice weekend.

Robert Cook said...

Pigs are reportedly quite intelligent and affectionate, as much so as dogs. We do see that dogs suffer emotional trauma, and we rightly abhor the use of dogs in dog-fighting. Why does it seem absurd to suggest that pigs forced into wrestling with humans might be disturbed by it?

John said...

I wonder how many pigs signed the petition?

Roughcoat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Etienne said...

Q: What do you get when you cross a pig with a Naval Aviator?
A: Nothing, there is some things a pig won't do.

Roughcoat said...

I spent the weekend in Cambridge WI competing in sheepherding trials with my border collies. I wonder--how long before the Nazies at Alliance for Animals and the Environment try to ban this sport?

Inga said...

Yes, let's get Zeus and all those cute Althouse neighborhood dogs into a dog/ human wrestling event. What fun!

Sebastian said...

"How does Madison wield such influence over Stoughton?" Progs rule. They rule because they are right and tradition is wrong

"Now, we're asked to believe the pig doesn't like it?" It doesn't matter what you think, as long as you toe the line.

Gusty Winds said...

Have they banned Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" along with Huckleberry Finn yet?

Inga said...

No sympathy for the pigs! It's all spent on Trump.

Roughcoat said...

Yes, let's get Zeus and all those cute Althouse neighborhood dogs into a dog/ human wrestling event. What fun!

If the dogs like you, they'll love wrestling with you. Dogs love physical play with their people. You know this, right?

Inga said...

How many of these pigs know and love the people who will be wrestling them?

Martin said...

They aren't asking you, they are telling you. You have no right to your own opinion.

BudBrown said...

Not to worry. Soon enough robots will be chasing humans around in the mud.

Anonymous said...

Thank god this is going to stop. I don't want my bacon emotionall injured.

Inga said...

Are we felines who play with and torment their food before eating it?

Left Bank of the Charles said...

So much for tradition?

“The Pig Wrestling Event has been a signature part of the Stoughton Fair for seven years. There haven’t been any injuries, human or animal, in the almost decade-long tradition.”

Our county fair had a greased pig contest (and perhaps still has, I'm not telling where), where small children tried to catch greased-up pigs. This business of adult men wrestling with somewhat larger pigs may be entertaining, but does strike my rural sensibilities as being somewhat peculiar.

Also, from the picture in the article, this post needs the men in shorts tag.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Miriam said...

Are we felines who play with and torment their food before eating it?

Metaphorically, yes.

In these intellectual games we play, you are our mouse.

Rick said...

How many pigs will be killed since the owners no longer need a few around to satisfy this need?

Inga said...

Eh, mice can bite ya know. It's amusing to imagine oneself a cat, but some might see them as mere pussies. :-)

Smilin' Jack said...


"Stoughton Fair cancels pig wrestling event because of all the criticism and concern for the pigs — who might be physically or emotionally injured."

....Pig wrestling has been a decades-long tradition at many fairs and similar events, drawing huge crowds of spectators.


I was emotionally injured just reading that last sentence. Never mind pig wrestling--the Midwest needs to ban incest.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

It's always interesting to think about how people see themselves.

Miriam: The Mouse That Roared.

Or, I guess, really--Miriam: The Mouse That Bit (Back)? I dunno.

J said...

It's because Wisconsin is ruled by urbanists from Madison that hate all agriculturalists and suburbanists and their customs.Just pure oppression by the urbanists.Just like gun comtrol.

J said...

And all the incest jokes are oral and written badspeak brought on by urban badthink about traditional living.

buwaya said...

"Are we felines who play with and torment their food before eating it?"

Yes, we are. Like bullfighting.
An awful lot of Spanish literature, drama and music are bound up in bullfighting. Its difficult to understand unless you have been in the middle of it.

EL CAFÉ DE CHINITAS
Federico García Lorca

En el café de Chinitas
dijo Paquiro a su hermano:
«Soy más valiente que tú,
más torero y más gitano».

En el café de Chinitas
dijo Paquiro a Frascuelo:
«Soy más valiente que tú,
más gitano y más torero».

Sacó Paquiro el reló
y dijo de esta manera:
«Este toro ha de morir
antes de las cuatro y media».

Al dar las cuatro en la calle
se salieron del café
y era Paquiro en la calle
un torero de cartel.

buwaya said...

The Mouse That Roared.

Good book, better movie

Roughcoat said...

How many of these pigs know and love the people who will be wrestling them?

Gee, I don' know, do you? I was talking about dogs, just like you were when you mentioned Meade and Zeus.

Inga said...

Roughcoat,
Actually I was talking about Zeus and Althouse neighborhood dogs, never mentioned Meade. But if Meade wants to get muddy and wrestle Zeus, hey who am I to object?


"Yes, let's get Zeus and all those cute Althouse neighborhood dogs into a dog/ human wrestling event. What fun!"

6/17/16, 2:13 PM Delete

Michael K said...

"Why does it seem absurd to suggest that pigs forced into wrestling with humans might be disturbed by it?"

Only to those of us who are emotionally stable, which eliminates you and Inga.

Roughcoat said...

Whatever, Miriam. You got me there.

buwaya said...

On the end of pig-wrestling -
Who knows what art, poetry, literature, music of the future has been stopped, terminated before it could be fertilized in the verdant countryside?
The blind, arrogant, dumb brutality of those unnatural city-worms.

Inga said...

And along comes the grumpy old curmudgeon, Dr. Michael, just when we started having fun.

Inga said...

Doc Michael, you could drop your angry old geezer persona once in a while, ya know. A sense of humor is a sign of a healthy vibrant mind.

buwaya said...

Without bullfighting, we wouldn't have "Sangre y Arena", Blasco Ibáñez
Or "España cañí", heck, all the pasodoble.

Without pig-wrestling, you will never have ... well, you will never know, now.

buwaya said...

"A sense of humor is a sign of a healthy vibrant mind."

Yes. We are waiting.

Inga said...

"Without pig-wrestling, you will never have ... well, you will never know, now."

You'd have a stressed out skinny pig, from all that running and squealing in fright.

buwaya said...

What you may have had -
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" - Mark Twain
Thats worth some skinny pigs, or lean bacon.

buwaya said...

If things keep going as they are going -
Worthwhile literature will be much less "The Celebrated Jumping Frog...
Than a whole lot of Kafka.
Kafka is fine in his place. But if thats the only sort of thing left to write about or think, for the would-be free man, then something is very very wrong, because that is a literature of the very very wrong.
If you would have "Blood and Sand" or the "Jumping Frog", then pig-wrestling stays.

Inga said...

Well, you'd have this cute ditty. You could sing it on the way to the market.

Laslo Spatula said...

Hillbillies on the Porch:

"Whacha whittling there, Deke?

"Well, I started tryin' to whittle me a spoon, but I think it's gonna be a chopstick instead."

"Don't you need two chopsticks to make it work with the Chinese Food?"

"Oh, I've whittled at least a dozen chopsticks over these last months. Seems like everything lately ends up being a Chopstick or a Snake."

"I just heard my cousin Dale is in jail now."

"What'd he do this time?"

"It wasn't his fault this time. He was participating in the pig-wrestling contest at the County Fair, like he always does."

"Did he win?"

"No, not this year. It seems he was a-wrestlin' the pig something fierce and everything was all slick and slidey…"

"Uh Oh. I think I know where this is going."

"Yep: his dick slid right out of his pants and into the pig's ass."

"I've heard about this kinda thing happening."

"Well, now it happened to Dale. The more he wrestled the more the pig clenched down on his dick. Finally had to beat him off with a stick, and now Dale is worried about his dick getting pig warts or some such. I told him people fuck pigs all the time, and they seem to be just fine."

"That IS a Bad day at the County Fair."

Afterward, the pig's owner said the pig was emotionally traumatized."

"How do you know when a pig is emotionally traumatized?"

"Maybe he's a Pig Whisperer, I don't know."

"That's some bad luck, there. Of all the ways your dick can slip out of your pants…"

"I know. Like that time I was at the Dairy Queen."

"That was a bad one, yeah. You don't want your dick hangin' out when you're around kids eating corn dogs."

"I sure found that out. They kept asking me where the stick was, Mister. So anyways, Dale got himself arrested because he wouldn't pay the farmer for the pig."

"How much did the farmer want?"

"Full Market price. Dale offered him twenty dollars, being that's how much he pays the girl in town for HER to ride his dick for five minutes, but the Police didn't see it his way."

"That's a shame."

"Deke?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you eat bacon from a pig that someone fucked?"

"Well, I figure I probably already have. I've lived a lot of years, and there's a lot of pig-fuckers out there. Bound to have happened by now…"

"I bet you're right. At least they don't make bacon from the pig's asshole."

"That's why I'll eat bacon but I sure won't eat a hot dog…"

"Or Pork Rinds."

"Amen, that..."


I am Laslo.

Inga said...

Laslo! Wow! That puts a whole new twist to the term pig fucker.

Unknown said...

The joke about Naval Aviators, I heard it as lawyers.

buwaya said...

You see?
Now what would Laslo do if he were to actually hang out at the pig-wrestling arena?
He, at least, potentially has the calling, as would any number of others of greater or lesser talent. But the inspiration is lost.
The themes are all there, as Pushkin used the theme of the duel in Eugene Onegin. One day Laslo could have been our Pushkin on this theme, but its dead.
Anytime those city-cripples without imaginations kill off something, they kill off a slice of the future.

Unknown said...

Dogs will play with strangers; zoos encourage animals to play -- call it enrichment. Who knows what a pig thinks. Maybe the pigtition to ban such activities is actually unfair to pigs.

clint said...

I wonder how many of the people who signed the petition had ever seen the event in question.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Gotta agree with the batshit Progs on this one. If it isn't a pest or dangerous and you're not going to eat it, work it, or make it part of your family, leave it the fuck alone.

DUSTER said...

Im glad i trained my pig in MMA, they haven't banned him from that yet.

chickelit said...

@Laslo: Pig in a poke or poke in a pig?

rice bowls

Etienne said...

Unknown said...The joke about Naval Aviators, I heard it as lawyers.

yea, but sharks work so well for them :-)

Deirdre Mundy said...

Our fair has banned pig wrestling because of swine flu.

Quaestor said...

I was afraid it was because it might offend Muslims.

The Alliance for Animals and the Environment were reserving that one in case someone countered with the "pigs like it" nostrum.

Attach "animals" or "environment", or better yet both, to your corporate handle and you can get away with just about anything in this fucked-up country of ours. Unless you include "Trump" in the concatenation, then you'll get banned by Facebook.

Big Mike said...

Let's make it more fair. Next year use feral boars with 12 inch tusks.

Quaestor said...

Our fair has banned pig wrestling because of swine flu.

If that's their reason they should ban pigs period. Any contact with an infected swine or its feculence is hazardous.

Dude1394 said...

No wonder kids only play video games. Adults stink in our society, really depressing.

lonetown said...

I guess I'll have to stick with the cow flop bingo.

bagoh20 said...

I don't know any pigs personally, but I know quite a few dogs who would just love that job. I'm betting even more pigs would. It's really a form of soft bigotry to assume they can't handle it. You find one who likes it or train him to, and use him for your pig fun - a professional mudder.

Tari said...

Yet another way Texas is superior to other states: we not only allow small children to ride sheep ("mutton busting"), we also encourage teenagers to chase cows ("calf scramble"). But only at the Rodeo, so maybe that's different.

William said...

The larger philosophical question is not whether pigs enjoy this sport, but rather why humans do. On a more meta level, why do other humans enjoy watching this as a sport. I'm sure the origins of this sport date back to a time before basic cable, perhaps even before television.......It would probably be fun to watch an attractive woman mud wrestle with a pig, but that would subvert the whole purpose of a family outing. Besides, it's probably not a sport that attracts a lot of attractive women.

Jon Burack said...

Stoughton, my old town - I moved out and sold my home there last year. I see I got out just in time. Of course there is that famous warning

"First they came for the pigs, and I did not speak out, because I was not a pig.
Then they came for the cow chips, and I did not speak out. . . etc."

Rusty said...

"Blogger Miriam said...
And along comes the grumpy old curmudgeon, Dr. Michael, just when we started having fun.

6/17/16, 3:26 PM
Blogger Miriam said...
Doc Michael, you could drop your angry old geezer persona once in a while, ya know. A sense of humor is a sign of a healthy vibrant mind."


Miriam. You're the .......................what am I doing? You're a parrot of course yo don't get it.

Johnathan Birks said...

Not only does the pig like it, he's happy he isn't bacon already. Some people just don't have enough real things to complain about.

Rusty said...

I'm more concerned about the busybodies that are concerned about the emotional well being of a pig than I am about a stupid pig.
How morlly and intellectually vacant do you have to be to concern yourself with a pigs happiness.
Liberls.