A ‘Lamb National’ race loved by King Charles will go ahead after bosses were told the animals ‘would have been eaten instead’.
The event, where lambs wearing jockey silks race around a course, is part of the offerings at Barton Carnival, North Lincolnshire, which takes place in June.
But the race received a ‘large’ amount of backlash from animal rights activists who said the lambs ‘did not consent’ to racing, which led to stressed-out organisers cancelling the event.
Now, carnival bosses have U-turned on their decision, saying that all the sheep that take part are ‘bought at auction where they would otherwise would have ended up in the food chain’.
Barton Carnival said in a statement on Facebook: ‘After a lot of careful consideration from the committee and listening to public feedback, we have made the decision that the Lamb National show will go ahead.
The event, where lambs wearing jockey silks race around a course, is part of the offerings at Barton Carnival, North Lincolnshire, which takes place in June
A Lamb National was previously held during Royal Ascot in 2015 and prompted hordes of laughter – not least from King Charles, then Prince of Wales, and Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall
‘We have received all documentation from Bob Hogg who runs the show and we are comfortable that the animals are well treat and it does not come over as animal abuse.’
A Lamb National was previously held during Royal Ascot in 2015 and prompted hordes of laughter – not least from King Charles, then Prince of Wales, and Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall.
The Barton Carnival Committee hoped to recreate the magic in rural Lincolnshire but their plans were left in tatters after members were trolled online and branded ‘animal abusers’.
Carnival committee chairman Ben Troop, 39, said they had received a ‘large’ amount of backlash.
Mr Troop said: ‘We were getting a lot of abusive messages online and we weren’t prepared for the level of backlash that we were getting.
The race received a ‘large’ amount of backlash from animal rights activists who said the lambs ‘did not consent’ to racing, which led to stressed-out organisers cancelling the event
‘Our committee are all volunteers so we do this alongside our full time jobs and things were getting personal.
‘We’re not even the only people locally to have the Lamb National and the feedback hasn’t seemed to have come from locals.
‘We can guess it’s gone out certain Facebook pages or groups and they’ve chosen to gang up against it and bombard us with messages – it’s a shame.’
The Lamb National is set to be staged alongside fire eaters, a dog show and live music at the town’s summer event.
The sheep race is staged by the Bob Hogg events company, which charges £1,850 for two races.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) previously said the lambs can’t ‘consent’ to the races and the event is not much different from animals in a circus.