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A GOAT HAS been hoisted into the air, where it will remain for two days, as part of the Puck Fair.
The goat is the 401st King Puck and was hoisted 60ft into the air as part of the festival in Killorglin, Co Kerry.
The Puck Fair is Ireland’s oldest traditional fair, with the first one believed to have taken place in 1613. As well as the hoisting of the King Puck goat, there is a range of events taking place including a cattle fair, horse fair and live music.
The mountain goat is taken from the wild and then sent back to the wild after the festival.
There have been a number of complaints on the official Puck Fair Facebook page about the goat.
Animal rights activist group ARAN said it made appeals to authorities and the organisers of the fair to halt the hoisting of the goat.
It is now looking into whether the incident breaches part of the five freedoms in the revised Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.
Puck Fair response
In response to the concerns, a spokesperson from Puck Fair told TheJournal.ie that the welfare of King Puck “is the priority at all times”.
To that end the goat chosen each year is brought from whichever mountain farm it is selected from and paddocked in a farmyard three weeks before the Fair to ensure he becomes familiar with his handlers and secure around people in general. At the initial stage the goat is examined and inspected thoroughly by a vet who determines that the goat is in good health. The vet issues a certificate of health to that effect.
The goat is then gradually introduced to more people and by the start of the fair is “well used to interacting with people at close quarters”, said the organisers.
On the day of the coronation King Puck is once again examined by a vet before being brought in a controlled manner in a strictly stewarded parade to the Goat Stand on the main square. Members of the public are barriered a minimum of five metres from the stand as the coronation takes place.
The fair organisers said the the goat is not, as claimed, hoisted and left alone for three days on the stand.
“King Puck is placed on his platform at 6pm on August 10th and removed from the stand at 6pm on August 12th – 48 hours later,” they said, adding that during that time he is:
“In fact, the Puck Fair committee has always been to the forefront of animal welfare, ensuring a safe and secure environment for the hundreds of animals on sale at both the horse fair on August the 10th and cattle fair on August 11th,” they continued.
They also said that the evening concert stages are specifically designed to ensure the goat is not affected, with special angled speakers being used to ensure the spread of sound does not reach the goat.
It is ludicrous to suggest that a mountain goat would have a problem being out in all weathers and patently ignorant to suggest he is afraid of heights.
“While we respect people’s views in relation to animal welfare, we understand that some organisations are never going to be convinced that King Puck is indeed treated like a King,” said the fair.
“He is, and we are happy for the Department of Agriculture to have an audience with him at any time.”
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I’d say there will be more humans with heath concerns after they drink the place dry over the next week
Puck off the lot of ye , he’s a king for puck sake , how many of ye can say that ! Long live the king
Its gas craic. Been years since I’ve been at it but must go again some day. Why they don’t hold it on the nearest weekend rather than the exact same dates is beyond me?
It’s like something out of father ted
Or the wicker man!
Ah it’s some craic tho!!!
Horse boxes, cattle trucks, pig trucks, slaughterhouses, intensive chicken farms, puppy farms, badger culls, all ok. But declare a goat a king and the wishy-washy brigade get all their knickers in a knot.
You keep your hands and ignorance away from my horse racing there Charlie boy. You obviously know nothing about how those animals are looked after.
It’s only ok to put an animal in a cage if it looks pretty and tweets (but you must give it a mirror). Or is a gerbil, or a small dog, or a bigger dog if the cage is bigger, or a cat if it’s in a car. A fish tank is a cage made of glass. But do not use a cage for a goat.
Apologies Patrick, that reply was meant for Charlie Mountney and his comment about banning horse racing, not yourself. I’m with you on this one!!
What makes you think people that don’t support this stupid tradition support things like puppy farms etc that you’ve mentioned? It is a stupid tradition and unnecessarily cruel. The goat is wild.
So are one of the winners or one of the mugs Niall? I know what happens to the horses that are injured during the race. They get put down.
And I presume the owners get the insurance money.
It is cruel affair and no sport.
Goats are completely mental anyway. They love being up high, he’s probably off his box at the moment.
/not a scientific assessment, by any means.
I’m definitely not cool with the idea of a goat marrying a 12 y/o girl though.
It’s true. Have you seen where these lunatics live. A couple of days locked in a cage is the safest he’ll be all year.
The marriage may seem odd but it is the only way of ensuring a good harvest and good lambing the following spring. These people are doing good work so please just leave them at it.
If it pleases the gods, I’m down with it, Winston.
People getting upset over what seems to be a well looked after goat. If the pc brigade got their way this world would be a very boring beige place. Is this tradition a bit mad? Yes, but that’s what makes it great. It’s weird traditions like this that make different countries and cultures stand apart and in turn make the world a more interesting place.
Very strange thing to do and cruel. They should know better it’s 2014 not 1914 !
You obviously don’t know what the word means.
strange?
Yeah. Those 1914 goats deserved it!
Anyone that thinks it’s fine to use an animal for entertainment need to really ask themselves if the shoe was in the other foot how would you feel. It’s about time we start empathising with how our animals feels. Country is a joke. We’re a disgrace how we view animals
It’s a very small minority who mistreat there animals to say the hole country is a joke over the actions of a few is a bit much our dog gets looked after better than me
Lighten up, the animal is well looked after.
I’d say you are the life and soul of a party.
Where do those leather shoes on YOUR feet come from?
I love animals but I also love meat. It’s quite the predicament
I nominate you to become the first chairperson of the society for the protection of the easily offended urban middle-classes. First on the agenda, removing the smell from cow dung and what to do about Leitrim.
Shauna I suppose you boycott horse racing so?
Look at my lovely horse rescue Facebook page and see the picture of the horse covered in blood. Disgraceful
@steve I do not agree with horse racing nor I ever will.. Look at the poor starving horses all around the country products of people wanting to earn a quick buck or two. Using animals to gain money is just wrong..
Lets see be abducted by friendly aliens who feed and look after me for three weeks ,and groom me and look after my medical needs and worship me while I’m 60 foot in the air in a box for two days,and then dump me back in Ireland with no harm done….Apart from being dumped back in Ireland…Good Deal!
I’d love to be hoisted up in a box for the week and have my meals taken care of. Beats working.
Every time someone attempts to bring some reason and humanism into a debate like this we get a poster who says, “I bet you are the life and soul of the party”.
Let us examine this statement and hopefully prevent some repetition of this hoary old chestnut. Not all I fear because there is always going to be some wiseguy/gal going to repeat it. Some might actually thinking they are being original.
So let’s start by contemplating what kind of party we are referencing here. Would it be the kind of party where ever body gets out of their heads and then someone decides that it would be fun to kick the cat round the back garden? In this case then you would probably be right.
Would it be a dinner party where we all sit round and chat about whatever is happening locally, tell a few stories etc? Who can tell. I have some great stories myself.
Or would it be just your bog standard party where we all just talk about stuff and tell a few jokes, whatever. I honestly cannot see that feeling about animal welfare have any bearing on the latter two. Some people seem to think that having strong feelings about a subject is akin to being miserable and obsessed. Well that is not my experience.
Finally a few words about life’s and souls of the party. It is my experience that most of these people are a pain in the hole. Self obsessives and attention seekers who pretty soon when the attention shifts away from them get to be behaving more and more outrageously to get the attention back. cont.
By this time they have pissed off all but their most fawning acolites and people are leaving. Or they have just gone that little bit to far and are starting to come out with the, “can’t you take a joke” line.
So to conclude. I would not take the, “I bet you are the life and soul of the party” line as an insult.
And if by chance the subject of animal welfare did come up at a party I would be prepared to make my views known and if anyone had a problem with that it would be their problem and not mine.
And thanks for reading if you got this far.
I dealt with this question on another thread Alan.
Just a precis for you.
What we feel we are threatened with in the Western world is extremism. One does not have to be an extremist and be vegan and a non wearer of leather etc to be concerned about animal welfare. There are many degrees between the two sides. Not that there is anything wrong with being extremist when it comes to the rights of animals. I have yet to hear of anyone entering a pig farmers meeting wearing an explosive vest with their finger on the button.
So this ” I bet you wear leather shoes” argument is totally irrelivant.
We make our choices in terms of ethics and morals. I have mine, you have yours. They are peculiar to us.
What we wear has no bearing on our character or decisions.
It’s no problem Kevin. You don’t have to make it one in your head and if anyone else sees it that way then it is their problem.
Cheers and I hope you enjoy your day. C
I don’t see what the big deal is, given the chance a goat would do the same to you and everyone you care about
@Kevin: Homer had a great comment about this “if god didn’t want us to eat animals why did he make them out of meat?”
But if you were hoisted up in a box Hugh then it would be because you have a choice.
The goat does not get this choice.
Savvy? Ah, probably not.
Totally agree Shauna. Horse racing is cruel and those who call it a sport are sick in the head. There’s a whole difference to a gallop along the beach with an animal that has become your friend and watching twisted little dwarves whipping fine animals past baying sub humans.
And those tw@ts in the hats. Perhaps I’d better leave it at that.
Can’t mess with tradition eh?
Charlie you speak alot of sense! Thank you!
Not that there is anything wrong with being extremist when it comes to the rights of animals. I have yet to hear of anyone entering a pig farmers meeting wearing an explosive vest with their finger on the button.
Funny you should mention bomb making there and animal rights in the same breath.
Lets see one of the Irish crowd of animal rights head bangers spokespeople Rodger Yates who lectures in UCD has done a spot of bird for bomb making and planting in the UK.
Robin Webb a spokesman for ALF has a rap sheet in the UK for possesion of a sawn off shotgun and bomb making materials.
A certain well known lady of many minority animal rights groups in Ireland invited a renegade Loyalist bomb maker down for a chat in a pub in Dublin in the 1990s,and it wasnt about the weather or peaceful protest either.
PETA/ALF were involved in a firebombing campaign in the USA in the 1990s that damaged numerous cancer or AIDS research labs and set the work back a decade.They even produced an online manual “Arson around with Auntie ALF.” for wanna be terrorists. Because of that campaign the FBI and now Homeland security rate animal libber groups more dangerous than the homegrown Neo Nazi movements in the USA.
So support animal rights groups you support terrorism,and dont try to argue degrees of it as it isan either or issue.Throwing money in the bucket is just as good as planting the firebomb.
The horse has become your friend? Did you meet it in a pub? Or is it more likely the horse had no choice in who its “friends” are… I wonder if this friendly horse was born in captivity… Fenced in all its life with no real freedom of movement… Was the horse given its own choice of stable? And seeing as ye are “friends” do you let said horse throw a saddle on you and mount you?
Thank you thank you thank you Wbc. You make valid points there. Now that comes over so much better than hunting through someone’s Facebook site for stuff to make personal comments about.
But I will deal with the placenta issue before responding to your post and get that out of the way. I would defend a woman’s right to chose to eat her placenta. It is certainly not something that appeals to me.
On to the animal rights issue. Someone earlier in this discussion accused me of trying to tar all those involved in the production of animals for food with the same brush.
Nuff said?
Ah John. That was a brilliant response and got me thinking as well as laughing. I honestly do not know how to answer that but it has got me thinking.
Fair point. Cheers. C
Guess I got your goat there did I?
No Charlie you dont sound like the life and soul.You sound more like the Misery dude,there is always one,or the female version the misery chick.The uptight ones who are always depressed about some clamaity somwhere or outraged about some moral issue,and think they have to pontificicate on their topic of the day at length,or make some sort of shocking remark to embarrass thier hosts” Gosh Audery…I hope those arent ISRAELI oranges you are using there in the fruit salad! Dont you know they have masscred over a BILLION childern in Gaza?”.They are the inverse attention seekers who by their negativity vaccum any party buzz.But are great craic once you can get some booze into them as they get more and more outraged and make themselves into figures of fun.Nothing like having a stuffed shirt and buffoon for after dinner entertainment.
No worries Charlie…
Well said Shauna!
If you ‘love’ animals you would be a vegan!
Don’t mess with tradition..
I have already demolished tradition in another post Shane. I actually hate tradition. It is what stops countries and people moving forward.
Forever tied to the past with the chains of tradition.
And it is the first cry of those who show contempt for the rights of animals.
Traditionalists are ret@rds.
Yeah Charlie lets get rid of all those silly traditions like freedom of speech in your case.Or the retar@d ed tradition of people actually having a differing opinion in a democracy.Inalieable rights…bah! ol rubbish ..dump it too.
I’d say you’re great craic at a party Charlie. Invitation to my next event is on my FB page… this time we’re sacrificing an idiot. Feel free to join us.
Hi wontbe.
Freedom of speech is not a tradition. It is a precious right that people have fought hard to attain. Just see how long that which you have claimed to be a tradition lasts if a country is put under martial law.
Oh, and if you get a bit of time, check out the blasphemy laws in Ireland and then get back to me about freedom of speech being a tradition.
Test that one out and see if you won’t be censored.
Hi Nial. Thanks for the invite but I don’t do parties anymore. Appreciate the thought though. :)
The Pope is gay…The virgin mary was a madame in a brothel.Allah abused children,Buddah was an overweight fat fool… OK anytime now the moral and other police are going to be at my door and some mad Mullah will issue a fatwah on me and some head hacker will be over….Sue me!!
Cmon…Journal.ie no doubt has my as well as anyone elses ISDN addy,so I just comitted a hate crime…Bring it on…It would be finally good if this ridicilous law was challanged once and for all wiped off the statue books.
But in your case you seem to think it is a relative right that no one might express a differeng view in supporting their traditions..IOW you have an Orwellian view of doublespeak…You can speak as much as you wish so long as it is the approved version of what is acceptable.
And when do you expect this country to be under martial law anytime soon???A strawman arguement.
Ha ha wbs. I like your style. That’s the kind of response I would give. It is good to see some light heartedness amongst all these serious comments.
I get your point even though you decline to get mine. That’s freedom for ya. :)
You missed mine.I’m saying freedom of speech is a tradition as well,in most western democracies that is.It is also a right,but as you pointed out correctly,rights are also very subjective and hard won. But seeing you are anti traditions,going by the logic you espouse it would suggest we abandon all the “traditions” that are mistakenly belived to be rights as they are not worthy.
The abuse of animals is not my tradition. Being cruel to other sentient beings has nothing to do with freedom of speech or freedom to make choices. This is far more then a difference of opinion, it is about another fellow sentient beings pain and suffering and their right not to have to experience it.
Dare I suggest that ARAN provide an Aran sweater for the puck.
For puck’s sake get a life.
He lives on the McGillicuddy Reeks for 362 days, temperatures reach minus 15 or 20 celsius at times.
He considers that he is on his holidays in the Riviera right now.
Disgusting medievalism!
Allow me mop your brow
What the f**k is wrong with you people that you think its ok to cage any living creature 60ft in the air ? And we call them animals !! Its ok , sure he’s used to heights …idiots.. yeah he’s used to heights where there is solid ground all around him . Imagine all the whinging you lot would be at if you were stuck on a fairground ride for a few hours , this is an archaic tradition and I can’t believe none of ye have the cop on to see that .
Whipping a horse until it jumps over a fence with you on its back is ok, Martina?
Who said I whipped a horse , who said I jumped a horse ?? Its you that’s jumping .. to conclusions . Hope u enjoyed spying on my fb account btw:) I have never jumped a horse in my life , nor have I whipped one , so if you’re gonna start an argument make sure you have all the facts straight first .
Funny that Martina,you put up like others a FB account with loads of personal info,and then are upset when people who dont agree with you look at it??Weird…
Martina… you talk about animal rights but you ride a horse? and I don’t need to go to your facebook page to see that, there is a picture of you on one by your name… You cannot have one rule for your animal and one for others… Now I don’t know much about horses, but from every Western I have ever seen, no horse liked been broken…. And where do you keep your horses? Im pretty sure they find stables quite small…
O boo hoo . Did I say I was upset …I was just amused at him having nothing better to do with his life thats all .
Martina deserves the accolade for most ironic poster on the Journal!
Westerns are pretend ..! I don’t own horses , I go riding sometimes . All the horses are treated excellently , not all horses live in stables you know . If a horse doesn’t want you on it then you won’t be on it , people have been riding horses for thousands of years it does not need to be cruel ,(however regrettably sometimes it can be ). If this is your argument then dogs should be roaming the countryside (because that’s what their ancestors once did) and not domesticated , i’m quite sure the first ones didn’t like it one bit , cats should be wild and not bred like they are , cattle should be roaming the plains somewhere and of course goats should be up a mountain and not tortured in a cage 60ft in the air .
Wow you are creepy won’t be censored. Should you not change your name to:
will be stalking.
What a creep.
Not as creepy as yours Charlie.You support women who want to eat their after births!! Weirdo!! But that must raise an intersting moral question for a vegan ,is the placenta meat or not??
GROWUP you silly child!
Here’s a clue for idiots who put lots of information on their FB pages .If you dont want people to see what weirdness you are into dont put it on a global website and then piss and moan that you are being stalked or looked at if someone goes and reads it who doesnt agree with you.If you are dumb enough to engage is some “hows your father” with the curtains undrawn and everyone can see you from a public road and takes your pics and sticks it on the Net you have no expection of privacy either.
Dogs are proably the only animals that willingly let themselves be domesticated by mankind in prehistoric times.
@Charlie.You want to quit drinking that free Red Bull you get in work. [Charlie works in Red Bull folks.]..So its proably the Taurine thats making him have these fits.
@ Wont Be Censored? Does that mean we really are slaves to over CAT overlords?
Jaysus wbc. Have you nothing else better to do.
Go get a life man.
I feel sorry for you wbc because most folk who post on the forum do so with humour and respect and do not go grubbing into people’s Facebook accounts and personally insulting them.
You really ought to get out more if you can.
Your personal comments reflect on your opinions. If you continue to do this no one but similar young, (I mean you have to be young, no one with maturity would do as you do) males will have any respect for you. You do come across as a really sad young man.
OMG… Westerns aren’t real.. are you sure… Sounds suspicious…. and wow.. you think because we have done something for thousands of years its ok… so basically its traditional for us to ride horses, well then I say if the goat ain’t complaining why are we.
Also my argument is that its funny how you think putting a goat in a cage is bad, but paying someone to ride their horse isn’t…And as you have pointed out horse riding can be cruel.. surely that means we should ban all horse riding… I don’t see how you can say that because we have done it for years to one animal we cant have traditions with others..
Got more of a life than you will ever have and have had.Hey if you cant stand the heat kiddo get the frup out of the sauna.
Proably ,but the stainless steel seive hat wearers would have you belive it is actually lizard overlords.I personally think it is an alliance of Lizard and Cat overlords who signed a treaty with the Bilderbergs in the presence of Adolf Hitler who escaped Berlin and lives on a secret Nazi lunar base on the dark side of the Moon.
@ Wont Be Censored… OMG… I think I have seen the Documentary.. Iron Sky… Wow that explains so much….. And Who would have thought of Cats and Lizards working together… We could be in more trouble than we ever realised….
Well I do think the country is a joke… Over 5500 dogs put down every year estimated to be alot higher this year , horses being left in filed to starve, dogs and horse both being burned alive and discarded like they are nothing.. I spend a lot of my time working with animal welfare and for people who don’t think we have a major animal welfare problem cop on.. It’s actually frightening what’s going on.. I will never agree to a animal being taken out of their natural environment and used for the purpose for human entertainment.
Shauna I suggest you get down there and free that goat if your so upset about it stop talkin s*ite and go an do it, go on I dare you
Sauna is not “talking shite” Paul. She has given you facts and figures that can be verified with an Internet search.
How can that be shite? Please explain.
I don’t know any one called sauna however if your referring to Shauna she said the whole country is a joke which is wrong the vast majority of people involved with the rearing of animals wether it be for food,sport or just company and companionship look after there animals very well and she should not say tar everyone with the same brush
And Charlie just in case you think I agree with what there doing to that goat I don’t as you can see from my previous post I don’t,
It’s like something Eroll out of true detective would do its crazy
Hi Paul. Good typo there you noticed. I’ll check that one before I use it again.
Once more I say she gave you facts, Shauna that is.
You will find any amount of videos on the net taken clandestinely in slaughter houses, chicken farms, those kind of places.
You’ll probably need a strong stomach to watch them though.
Hi again Paul. With you on that one. We all agree and disagree on various topics on the forum.
It’s getting easier to spot the professional posters though.
And those who think an adequate response is by using a personal attack.
“But you and me we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate” etc.
Besht wishes from the wesht. C
Shauna…you work with animal welfare, yet you say putting dogs down is wrong…animal welfare is doing what is the ‘best’ for the animal if it’s in pain it’s put to sleep. Animal rights would have us treating mice and dogs in hospitals receiving the best medical treatment to keep them breathing.
Basically animal welfare is NOT animal rights and I’m sick of people that think they are the same!!
Cormac I think putting any healthy dog down is wrong cruel and barbaric … Out of them 5500 dogs put down last year it was all because they were abandoned and only given 5 days to be rehomed if even… Don’t know what point your trying to make… Of course if an animal is in pain I believe they should be put to sleep.. Animal welfare and animal rights are both extremely important to me..
The fundamentals of animal rights is that animals should have the same rights as us humans, therefore anyone who kills an animal should be treated the same as killing you or me. Do you agree with this?
Unfortunately I’m a cynic. Welfare organisations are not above using pictures of poor sick animals to entice funding out of Joe Public and the gov. My issue is they then go on celebrating how much they spent on bringing this poor animal back to full health when that animals welfare could possibly of been better served by being put to sleep…AND those funds would of been able to maintain many many more dogs/cats in the shelter
Cormac I see animals as creatures to be loved and cherished never harmed, dumped, left to starve etc. I feel your version on what animal rights are very different to my views. I believe if a creature belongs to the wild then it should be left in the wild. I believe if you bring an animal into your life you should give that animal a great life. I don’t believe in horseracing , circuses, zoos, old traditions using animals causing harm Or distress. I believe we should
Love and care for our animals who have no voice. And speak up for them when horrific stuff happen to them. I see something more than just an animal as some people see I see a soul
i was at that fair when i was a young lad. be sad to see it go over a hand full of goat huggers :) .
vote yes :)
No one is suggesting closing down the fair Derek.
And having kept goats, believe me, you would have to be pretty hard core or desperate to want to hug them.
What a bunch of weird people
True, the animal rights brigade are a weird self sanctimionous bunch alright.
Animal rights activists usually just have their priorities completely off. This festival though is just plain wierd.
No more than the rose of tralee Kev.
Back off the Roses…
Tell me wbc. Why is it that those who’s opinions are called sanctimonious by some seem to come in a brigade?
Animal rights brigade, equality brigade, womens lib brigade etc. I am genuinely curious because I am aware that brigade is an army term. Brigades are led by a brigadier and I have never come across mention of a brigadier in any writings about such groups.
Perhaps you could enlighten me.
Proably because the most these nutter groups can get together is about a brigade strength of supporters ,if they include all their mates,fammlies and anyone who gives them the time of day?Appx 500 all in.Well some call them selves leauges or legions or movements,so calling them a brigade does give them a bit of ligitimacy,even when it is only 10 or 12 people who sewop about in different movements.
Such BS, how can they tell the goat isnt enjoying it? Its like the uproar over that russian donkey parasailing video a few years ago, i’d say the donky had great craic
Know a lot about donkeys do you Hugh? Something of an expert? A donkey psychologist perhaps or someone who has interviewed a lot of donkeys and asked them how they feel about being attached to a piece of canvas and chucked off a cliff?
Please reveal all. I for one would be fascinated.
Should give the noble goat some ear muffs to protect from the music. And ear phones for the number one song in the goats top of the pops – An Poc Ar Buile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bet you look sexy in a balaclava with a baseball bat Shauna.
Tradition yes, but the welfare of King Puck matters too.
Welfare yes, rights no. Don’t confuse the two
Sure it can’t be that bad being up a pole for a few days. Ask any of them people on the roller coaster in Washington. They were heard to say “Puck this, it’s great fun”
Barbaric bogger custom.
D4 or Ballymun?
Bet Billy can’t wait to return the the peace and sanity of the ‘wild’.
Waterford whispers did a great article about the king puck goat
Poor goat scared to death up there, the Mayor should give it a try , see how he likes it.
I’d say it’s a regular Saturday night thing to do down there.
have your say