Published: January 24, 2010 11:01 am      

ARLENE JOHNS | This hog tale had no substance

You might have heard about it, but if you didn’t, here’s the gist:

Bikers at Thunder in the Valley, more than a little offended at the actions of some animal rights activists, duct-taped the offenders to a Dumpster at a fast-food restaurant and (horrors!) force-fed them hamburgers!

A radio station in Minnesota heard about it and called The Tribune-Democrat last week to get comment.

It’s quite a tale. Here’s more:

The activists, believing bikers use far too much leather, headed to Johnstown with the express purpose of disrupting the otherwise-peaceful rally.

The protesters arrived at the rally from parts unknown in a vintage Volkswagen – probably their first mistake.

They pelted passersby with balloons filled with fake blood – calling the rally-goers murderers.

You might get by with that when your target is a blue-haired lady wearing fur, but it didn’t sit well with the bikers.

One offended cruiser forced a protester onto the back of his bike and insisted he remain there the entire day. Apparently, the biker’s girlfriend was out of town.

Police eventually were called to investigate the disappearance of three of the activists.

Pretty juicy story, eh?

One small problem.

Although widely circulated, the story is just not true.

Created on a Web site called The Spoof, the story appears just like a real news story.

It is even accompanied by a photo of bikers rumbling down a road.

But at the bottom of the story are these words: “The story is a satire or parody. It is entirely fictitious.”

Not everybody reads the fine print, however, and so the story spread.

It popped up on many other Web sites, all of which obviously ran it without verification.

Our newsroom has received dozens of inquiries about the story.

“Aren’t you going to look into this?” one caller asked.

Another accused us of hiding the truth to protect the rally.

Lisa Rager, executive director of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which plans and organizes the rally, said this was not the first tall Thunder tale she’d heard.

“Believe me, we’ve heard many different rumors,” she said. “But I have to say, this is probably the most interesting one.”

Rager hopes not many people took the story seriously.

“We promote Thunder as a peaceful, family-friendly rally,” she said.

But, looking at the positive side, Rager said it’s actually good news that the rally is gathering so much widespread attention.

“It is one of the top rallies in the country,” she boasted.

Hopefully, it will remain so for a long time.

And hopefully, people will start getting a little more suspicious about what they read on the Internet.

A little scrutiny would have poked more than a few holes in the tale of the animal lovers who met their match at a hog rally.

“The funny thing is that the story made it sound like (the rally) just happened,” Rager said.

“We definitely do not have a biker rally here in January!”



Arlene Johns is city editor of The Tribune-Democrat.