Donkey racing has been cancelled in Leatherhead after organisers said the animals’ welfare could not be guaranteed as temperatures climbed ahead of Monday’s bank holiday event. Leatherhead Lions Club said its annual donkey derby would go ahead without the donkeys or the dog show, citing the welfare and comfort of the animals.
The decision came as Monday was forecast to be the hottest May day on record, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 34C in parts of the UK and about 33C in Leatherhead. The annual bank holiday donkey derby in Surrey was still set to continue with other attractions, including fairground rides and music, even as the racing was dropped.
The move gives the event a very different shape from the one families in Leatherhead have come to expect. The donkey derby is one of the town’s regular bank holiday fixtures, but organisers said the heat made the animal sections unsuitable. Their decision also covered the dog show, leaving the rest of the day’s programme intact.
The weather concern was tied directly to the forecast for Monday, when the Met Office expected temperatures to surge across the country. With the town set for 33C and some parts of the UK possibly hitting 34C, the club opted to act before the day began rather than risk distress to the animals later in the afternoon.
That is the tension running through the cancellation: the event can still draw crowds, but not in the form that gives it its name. By preserving the rides and music while removing the donkey racing, Leatherhead Lions Club has chosen to protect the animals and keep the bank holiday gathering alive in a reduced form.
For Leatherhead, the question is no longer whether the derby will happen, but how much of the original tradition can survive conditions like these. If temperatures keep pushing into record territory, the animals are likely to remain the first part of the programme to go.
