Animal rights group declares Calaveras County frog contest
inhumane

Wednesday, August 14, 2002

(08-14) 01:09 PDT ANGELS CAMP, Calif. (AP) --
An animal rights group has declared the famed Calaveras County
Jumping Frog Jubilee and similar contests around the country
cruel and inhumane, saying frogs should not be taken from their
native habitat for human entertainment.

Members of the Animal Protection Institute, an 80,000-member
animal rights group based in Sacramento, are encouraging other
outraged frog lovers to write letters to the directors of the
annual event in California's gold country that features the
acrobatics of frogs memorialized in Mark Twain's classic 1865
short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

Animal rights advocate Larisa Bryski says she remembers jumping
frogs herself when she made a bid for Miss Calaveras County in
1988. Now, she'd prefer that humans stop jostling the amphibians
in the hot summer sun altogether, saying constant handling of the
frog's permeable skin makes it easy for disease and infection to
take hold.

Longtime Calaveras County Fair manager Buck King said he's not
swayed. He said the frogs are treated with respect and noted all
are returned to their shady homes in ponds and streams.

"We are very conscious of how frogs are treated. If any frogs are
mistreated, we deal with the person," King said. "In fact I've
had to evict people from the fairgrounds permanently."

The county fair and frog jubilee are held the third week of May
each year at the fairgrounds in Angels Camp. Between 2,500 and
3,000 frogs participate each year, King said.

King said the annual contest began in 1928 to celebrate the
paving of the city's streets.