A team wrestles a hog during the 2014 Delaware County Fair. (Photo: The Star Press)

The Delaware county fair board has canceled its annual hog wrestling contest after online petitions called it “sadistic” and “barbaric” and threats were made to protest the fair if the event continued as scheduled.

Hog wrestling had been a popular county fair event in the past and was revived over the past several years. An online petition was created on Change.org to cancel the event after it was listed on the schedule along with a rodeo and demolition derby planned for this year.

Petitioners, ranging from county residents to international supporters, were concerned that the event was cruel to the animals and could stress or injure them. Officials said the hogs are supplied by a southern Indiana hog wrestling promoter and sometimes as many as 100 teams can participate in the event, ranging from kids to adults and businesses or political candidates.

In a meeting Wednesday night that ranged from angry to emotional, discussion went back and forth from canceling the hog wrestling to going ahead despite the threat of protests. Fair board president Jane Lasater stated that she didn’t feel the event was cruel to the animals, but decided to discuss the concerns.

“If we bow down to these threats, where does it stop?” asked fair volunteer James Mansfield at the meeting. He was among those arguing against canceling the event.

A major concern of the fair board was that if the event was canceled, what would be added to replace it to generate revenue for the fair. The possibility of picketers at the fair was also taken into consideration.

“We need to decide what is good for our community and our 4-H kids,” summed up John Wright, veteran fair volunteer and former county council member. “I’m not sure it’s worth the fight.”

Ultimately, the board decided to cancel hog wrestling in a split vote, the details of which were not disclosed. A proposal was also made to create an online crowd-funding site to replace the revenue that would be lost by canceling the event.

Source: The Muncie Star Press