Pig wrestling at Allen County Fair may violate laws

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The scheduled team pig wrestling event at this week’s Allen County Fair was canceled, and a sign erected on fair grounds gave at least a hint at the reasoning.

The sign read, “Thanks to Karen Richards, the Allen County Prosecuting Attorney, there is no Pig Wrestling.”

The county prosecutor told WISH-TV’s sister station WANE on Friday that leading up to the fair, her office fielded numerous complaints about pig wrestling at the fair. In response, Richards said she sent an email to the fair’s attorney that said in essence that the fair could be in violation of the state’s animal cruelty statute if it was to go forward with the event.

On Wednesday, then, the fair posted on its Facebook page that the team pig wrestling contest had been canceled.

Richards said she never ordered the fair to do so and it chose to call it off voluntarily.

It’s not clear who put the sign up at the fairgrounds. It was located near a ticket booth along a fence row with other advertisements. The News-Sentinel reported that fair organizers said they did not erect the sign.

Pig wrestling has drawn the ire of animal rights activists who claim the activity is harmful to the pigs or hogs. County fairs throughout the state have canceled similar events last year and this year.

Richards said the activity falls in line with animal cruelty as state law sees it.

“Since when does terrorizing farm animals amount to a fair event? Substitute your cat or your dog for the pig and you get the idea of what the statute is for,” said Richards.