Conference tallis::celt

175.0. "Strong Mussels !!!" by ENGGSG::BURNS (As The Hammer Strikes The Anvil) Wed Apr 08 1987 13:05

Associated Press Wed  8-APR-1987 01:42                    BRF--Cockle-Tossing

   Cockle-Tossing Raises Hackles

   SWANSEA, Wales (AP) - Charges of cruelty to shellfish have
failed to halt plans for a cockle-tossing contest at a village fair.
   Handfuls of the little bivalve molluscs will be put in socks and
thrown across a field in the charity event, planned for a Swansea
fair in June. Those who throw the cockels the farthest will have
their names engraved on a trophy.
   The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has
protested the planned event, calling it cruel and ``a frivolous use
of any creature.''
   ``If cockles are used like this, then someone else might decide
to use larger creatures in the same way. If the cockles are not
going to be used for food, in theory they should not be
disturbed,'' said a society spokeswoman.
   But David Jenkins, press officer of the Swansea Round Table
businessmen's organization that is planning the contest, said:
``People stick skewers through suckling pigs or use steaks on
bruised eyes and the cockles will be dead when they are thrown.
There is no cruelty involved.'
   Cockles are gathered from mud at low tide around Britain. They
are boiled in their shells and eaten cold with vinegar and pepper.