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| Competitive eaters v. Ringling Bros. elephants. Photos: Getty Images |
As a prelude to the annual hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island, three professional eaters will go up against three Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey elephants on July 3 in Brooklyn, N.Y., an organizer confirmed to Slashfood.
"The animal kingdom in general is oppressed -- many would say -- by the dominance of the human species, and if they were to win this battle, in a way it could signal a rise of the animals," George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating, tells Slashfood. "Or at the very least, a confidence booster."
Get the details on this pachyderm pack down after the jump.
Three competitive eaters -- Juliet Lee of Germantown, Md., "Gravy" Brown of Chicago and Tim "Eater X" Janus -- are tentatively set to challenge three Ringling Bros. elephants to a hot-dog-bun eating contest at the circus tent in Coney Island one day before Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, Shea says.
The elephant competitors are female and older, Paulina Piekarski, a spokeswoman for Ringling Bros., tells Slashfood. Bunny, 42, Susie, 46 and Minnie, 48, will challenge the humans at 11 a.m. in a free show open to the public.
The competitors will have six minutes to down as many buns as possible. The Brooklyn Paper, which broke this man vs. beast story, reports an elephant can down a loaf of bread in 1.5 seconds. Piekarski says the trainer will likely stuff carrots into the buns to make them look more like hot dogs.
"Really the strategy of the eaters is going to come into play, and the intellect issue in terms of whether or not the elephants will understand they're in a contest: Will they begin as quickly as the eaters? Will they eat in a leisurely fashion?" Shea says. "It's really up in the air, because it would seem that if the elephants did eat quickly they would win."
They'll be competing for the glory and a trophy, Shea says.
"There's no cash prize; it's hard to organize a prize that would be both rewarding to an elephant and a human, unless it was some kind of a vegetable dish," Shea says. "A crudite, perhaps, would be appealing to both, but it just doesn't make a big impact on the public if you say there's a crudite."
Coney Island has a checkered past when it comes to the elephant kingdom. In 1903, throngs turned out to watch the electrocution of Topsy, a pachyderm who killed three men during her lifetime at Luna Park. Thomas Edison was among the spectators, filming the execution for posterity.
Shea balks at the mention of exploitation.
"On the contrary, I think that this is a nod to their stature," Shea says. "We are honoring them."
Will these elephants be eating for Topsy? As one staffer noted Friday, they do have long memories.
| Sure, why not. | |
|---|---|
| It's inhumane. | |
| What a dumb idea. |
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6-21-2009 @7:54AM Linda said... I think competitive eating is disgusting and shouldn't even take place. Take the food or the money spent on the food and send it to people who really need it.
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6-21-2009 @8:39AM John C. said... Everybody's got to have some kind of talent. Some people cure diseases, some people save the environment, some people create works of art, and some people...well...uhh...
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6-21-2009 @9:10AM NICK said... I THINK THE WINNER SHOULD BE DETERMINED BY WHAT COMES OUT THE OTHER END
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6-21-2009 @11:05AM fran said... Is there no end to humans abusing and degrading animals. Isn't it enough that these circus elephants are treated horribly so that people can bring their children to see them "perform". People may not like it if they knew how these poor animals were "taught" to do tricks. How very, very sad for the animals of this world.
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6-21-2009 @11:08AM Flax Chick said... This just showcases everything that the world hates about Americans. Contests like this, in this economy and given the rise of obestity in America is heinous. I write a blog on health, fitness, anti-aging and living well..and this kinda cr*p is just pathetic! http://www.flaxchick.com
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6-21-2009 @11:10AM travelman7472002 said... Starving people read this and weep. Anyone involved in these "contests" should be ashamed of themselves.
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6-21-2009 @3:14PM Natasha said... This is so stupid--it's little wonder people around the world hate us. There's people starving in other nations (even our own), and we just have eating contests for the heck of it? Here's a novel idea: use that extra food for people that actually need it.
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6-21-2009 @12:26PM zeke said... HEY FRAN LIGHTEN UP JEEZ
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6-21-2009 @12:29PM Steve said... Come on people - relax! Its fun - its for kids - its the summer. There's enough real things to worry about in this world than if an elephant is being "abused" by being fed hot dog buns. Can't anything just be fun anymore?
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6-23-2009 @9:05PM gond36@aol.com said... This is funy, I think when people maik animals do studpid triks it funy
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6-21-2009 @1:53PM nkscouting said... It has nothing to do with America. Competitive Eating is most popular in JAPAN!
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6-21-2009 @8:03PM Emma said... I had been overweight for the past five years. I had tried almost everything in the market, right from taking diet pills to enrolling in a gym but nothing really worked. Yes I did lose a few pounds but nothing substantial. It was then that a friend recommended Acai Nutraburst http://tr.im/AcaiNutraburst to me. I have been using the product for about a month now and have slimmed down considerably. I have actually started to wear all those dresses that I had put off for so long. The product is definitely one of the best weight loss products in the market today. I have already finished two bottles of Acai Nutraburst and am on my third bottle now. It totally changed my life! Not only did I lose a lot of weight quickly, I have also never felt more energetic and so full of life!
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6-21-2009 @8:50PM KA said... I think its a clear case of animal abuse. Hot dogs are packed in sodium and fats. And those elephants are not carnivores.
What suffering they may go through for hours or days as their systems try to digest processed human fatty food is so sad to think about.
More proof Ringling Bros exploits animals for monay and corporate greed.
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6-21-2009 @9:10PM yea said... travelman7472002.....
starving people probably wouldn't have internet or a computer or time to read this crappy article dumbass
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6-21-2009 @10:14PM Wolfster said... This is why I only patronize Cirque du Soleil and circuses that DON'T have animals. Disgusting story.
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6-21-2009 @11:42PM Barbara said... ummmm Ka? It's a hot dog bun eating contest (and the contest part is just for the humans since elephants like bread and eat grain all the time).
Grain.. bread.. no meat. I'm just saying...
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6-22-2009 @12:38AM Dean said... Only an idiot would do this.
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6-23-2009 @10:44AM pugfriend said... just goes to show you: competitive eating, circus performances -- no matter what it is, there's always some idiot who doesn't like it
you want to protest something? try protesting peta's killing of the animals they ostensibly "care" for: we're talking 21,000+ animals MURDERED since 1998:
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
yeah, peta -- real ethical
tools
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6-23-2009 @7:29PM reality said... no offense, KA, but your post is a GREAT example of the all-too-pervasive knee-jerk anti-circus mentality that simply reacts with negativity and false charges without thinking first or taking the time to learn the facts of the issue
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6-25-2009 @3:18PM Charity said... This is horrific, elephants have suffered at the hands of man for centuries. Hundreds of thousands of us are trying to get elephants permanently removed from circuses because they are treated like dirt, given no positive enforcement, are cruelly abused, chained and dragged all over the country. Now Ringling is topping itself for the most abusive caretaker of elephants in the world. I don't give a damn about the ignorant people who use food as competition, they can eat until they explode, (now THAT would be funny.) The very idea is incredibly stupid, but the humans volunteer to do this, the elephants do not. STOP THIS IGNORANT PROMOTION IMMEDIATELY AND ADVOCATE FOR THE REMOVAL OF ALL RINGLING BROS CIRCUS ELEPHANTS TO A PROPER ELEPHANT SANCTUARY. It is the only sensible and humane thing to do.
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