Bulgarian "Dog -Spinning" ritual - not cool

Folklore is chock full of bizarre traditions and unfortunately some practises are a bit extreme. Take Dog-Spinning for example.

A Bulgarian Mayor last week defended an ancient ritual where a dog is suspended above water on a rope and spun rapidly until it falls in.

Unsurprisingly when this practise was first discovered by foreign media back in 2006, who were disgusted by this act of cruelty. Mayor Petko Arnaudov originally banned dog-spinning, or Trichane, in 2006 but it has recently being performed in its place of origin - Brodilovo.

Trichane is a Kukeri pagan tradition in the area that was thought to prevent rabies.

The Mayor defended the act by saying that it wasn't "dog-hanging" and that dropping it in water was tantamount to giving the poor pooch a bath.

While the Kukeri ritual is interesting from a folklore and anthropological point of view, it's definitely a crappy thing to do. How about using a doll or model dog instead?