Those comedians and comediennes at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) are at it again. The right-on organisation has erected a billboard in Aberdeen showing a man with with a fishing rod extended from his lower mid-section, with a caption reading, "Are You Overcompensating for Something?" PETA says it is part of its new campaign exposing angling as a "bully sport."

The organisation has sent out a press release saying, and I quote: "Men who feel a threat to their masculinity engage in more behaviour that is considered manly and are more likely to report feeling hostile than men who feel secure in their masculinity. With features such as intimate testimonials from anglers and their partners, an interactive poll and a ruler for measuring one's manhood, the site examines the link between rod envy and the urge to hurt and kill those who are unable to defend themselves."

"A man who tortures and kills a fish must be trying to prove something", says PETA's Special Projects Coordinator, Abi Izzard. "It takes a small man to call an attack on a defenceless animal a 'sport'."

I was in the middle of stifling a yawn when another story arrived which actually did annoy me. It appears one of Scotland's most eccentric sporting events has floundered by health and safety regulations. The Grande Internationale World Flounder Tramping Championships, held near Palnackie on the Solway Firth for 40 years, was cancelled last year because of a lack of volunteers. However, echoing the cancellation of the Grand Match in January this year – the contest between hundreds of curlers on the frozen Lake of Menteith, near Aberfoyle – red tape and regulation looks set to wipe out the event for good. The organisers would have to shell out at least £400 in advance to insure the championship to comply with rules governing public events.

Craig Parker, one of the organisers admitted it was unlikely to ever return. He said: "Sadly, health and safety issues mean that the event will not be going ahead this year or in the foreseeable future, "There have never been any problems in 36 years and we never used to bother with insurance, but then somebody made a complaint.

"Even though it is just a bit of fun we were told we needed to provide cover, but the cost has gone through the roof and we just can't afford it.

"The whole event was for charity, but all the money raised would have been wiped out by the cost of paying for the insurance."

The loss of the summer contest will be felt beyond the mud flats of Kirkcudbrightshire as people came from all over the world to compete and spectate. It put Palnackie on the map as well as raising tens of thousands of pounds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI).

John Patrick of Scotland for Animals was quoted as saying: "We are glad to see the back of this cruel, barbaric and inhumane spectacle. It is very sad that in 21st Century Scotland some people still believe that stamping on living, sentient creatures constitutes good family entertainment. Some will no doubt claim flounder tramping is a popular tradition but so were bear-baiting and cock-fighting."

Hmm. Maybe it's time someone started an organisation called Scotland for the Abolishing of Do-gooders (SAD)?