THE Paddington Tavern has vowed to go ahead with plans for charity pig races this Sunday despite criticism from animal rights activists.
Activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals yesterday wrote to the inner-west Brisbane pub and asked it to call off the races, which will raise funds for the Australian Liver Foundation.
In the email, PETA said the "highly intelligent and sensitive" pigs endured stress "caused by crowds of people, flashing cameras, and the tremendous noise of the audience, announcers, and sound systems" at the event.
It also expressed concern that pigs could be injured during the races.
Speaking from Hong Kong, PETA Asia-Pacific activist liaison Edward Baffe told brisbanetimes.com.au they the group had received several complaints from people in Brisbane about the event.
"We, as human beings, don't have the right to manipulate animals for purposes including entertainment," he said
"We are fairly certain that the tavern has its heart in the right place and we applaud their efforts on behalf of charity.
"But we hope sincerely that they will do the right thing and call these races off."
Paddington Tavern operations manager Damian McGuire said PETA's concerns were misguided, as the pigs were treated well.
And he said the races would not be called off.
"The man who owns the pigs looks after them very well, I think, and unlike other pigs they're quite lucky because they don't end up on the dinner table," Mr McGuire said.
"The company we use has been doing it for 10 years all over Queensland - the RSPCA are happy with it, they've got no problems.
"The pigs are not being mistreated at all - but they are smart, I agree with [PETA] on that."
Mr McGuire said the event, now in its fourth year, had previously run at the Paddington Tavern without complaint.
"It started with one girl [complaining], then she got on to her friends and they got on to their friends and on to Facebook and it went from there really," he said.
Mr McGuire said he expected the pig races to "pull a pretty big crowd" to the venue, with previous years proving popular with families keen to watch the pigs in action.
"The pigs all seem well trained - they know exactly where to go and what to do," he said.
"They definitely are smart animals and I'm sure if they didn't want to race, they wouldn't."
RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty said the event would be fully supervised.
"We will have an inspector at the event, but only if there are serious concerns for an animal taking part can we legally take any action," he said.
"If somebody was horsing around and started throwing glasses of beer at the pigs or something like that, we would be legally allowed to do something about it."
Mr Baffe said PETA was waiting to hear back from the Paddington Tavern.
"We're certain they'll get into contact with us and we can establish a dialogue," he said.
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