Animal Rights Activist Beaten With Duck

An animal rights activist was beaten with a duck in Spain by a woman trying to defend a nearly 100-year-old Spanish festival tradition in which ducks are thrown into the Mediterranean and then caught and brought back to shore by swimmers.

The man was beat with the duck while filming the annual "duck chase" in Roses, a Catalonian seaside town north of Barcelona.

Video footage caught of the incident shows a woman in a white bathing suit attack the man - holding the duck by the legs and repeatedly beating him with it. Before the attack, the man can be heard saying, "Continue, continue. Continue to abuse, I am filming you. A little bit of empathy for the animals. They also have a life, like your children or your family."

Other animal rights activists gathered on the shore during the attack chanting, "You would not do that to your dog," before being removed by police.

The duck chase has happened every year since 1918. After Sunday's attack, however, Roses' mayor is considering putting an end to the event.

Animal Rescue Espana says that, while the ducks are not killed, they suffer "stress, internal hemorrhaging, pain, fear, and suffering."