A PETITION has been launched by an animal activist calling for next month’s Moffat sheep race to be banned.

The event, on August 13, will be the sixth Moffat sheep race, which in previous years has attracted crowds in the region of 5000 to the Dumfriess-shire town, to watch sheep supplied by a local farmer race up the main street with knitted toy jockeys strapped to their backs.

The woman behind the petition is campaigner Samantha Francis from Cambridge, who claims the sheep are “terrified” by the experience – and has forced a similar sheep race near her home in Cambridge to be banned after an earlier petition.

“There is something inherently cruel about watching frightened sheep being scared through a town with toys strapped to their back," said Ms Francis. "It’s hardly what you would call setting a good example in animal welfare. The sheep are terrified as they are made to charge through a street with crowds of people shouting from the side. Sheep do not race naturally and are not competitive.”

Speaking for event organisers Moffat Group Promotions, Sarah Ottewell insisted the sheep were treated humanely: “Extensive animal welfare considerations have been taken into account in the planning and running of this event. We consulted several bodies, including animal charity the Scottish SPCA.

“The reputation of Moffat sheep races as a highly organised and professionally run family-friendly event, celebrating sheep, shepherding and rural life in the southern uplands, is extremely important to all who are involved," she insisted.

Money raised by the event covers costs and further work done by MGP, which promotes the conservation of Moffat.