Animal rights group Peta has urged the organizers of the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships to adopt vegan alternatives for the annual competition, arguing that the use of pigs' blood and fat for the event is unnecessary and cruel.
The championships, held in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, involve competitors throwing traditional black puddings at a plinth in a bid to knock them off. Peta has proposed that the event use vegan black puddings, sponges, or turnips instead.
In a letter to the event organizers, Peta stated, "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. In the case of the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships, someone does indeed get hurt: pigs." The organization has also offered to fund cruelty-free options for the event.
Paul Jenkins, an organizer of the championships, indicated that vegan alternatives are already available to competitors and that participants choosing them are welcome. He compared the event's tradition to cheese-rolling and stated that the championships already offer vegan options.
Peta has also recently advocated for a mackerel festival in Aberaeron, Wales, to be rebranded as a cabbage festival, suggesting that celebrating plant produce would align better with Welsh values. This proposal was met with skepticism by a local club member, who questioned the focus on cabbages and highlighted the community aspect of the mackerel festival.
The World Black Pudding Throwing Championships' tradition is said to be inspired by a battle in 1455 between the Houses of Lancaster and York. Last year's competition was won by 18-year-old Harry Ogden, who successfully knocked six Yorkshire puddings from the plinth.