MONTREAL — The Thetford Chicken Massacre, with its hatchets, booze and bloody headless fowl, has ruffled the feathers of animal welfare activists.

Animal rights groups are condemning the summer ritual, where partygoers lop the heads off chickens and turkeys, toss the birds in the air and wager on where their convulsing bodies will come to a dead stop.

Participants close out the annual rural Quebec celebration with fireworks and a poultry feast on the grill.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and a Quebec City humane society say the Thetford Chicken Massacre must be stopped.

"It's barbaric, unnecessary, it's gratuitous cruelty and I don't believe most Canadians would want to be associated with this type of redneck event," PETA investigator Kristin DeJournett said Tuesday.

She said party participants draw a grid on the ground and win money if the flopping fowl die in their square.

But DeJournett said there are no guarantees of a quick death during the festivities.

"It's easier to make a mistake when you're trying to sever the animal's head if you're partying and drinking," she said in a telephone interview from Memphis, Tenn.

"If the animal's head isn't severed, it's possible that they could be experiencing extreme pain and suffering.

"I would encourage these people to give vegetarian options a try."

The ninth instalment of the Thetford Chicken Massacre is scheduled for Aug. 31-Sept. 1 in St-Joseph-de-Coleraine, according to a Facebook web page dedicated to the event.

The page, which has since been removed from Facebook, featured several photos and a video from past events.

The video shows a crowd of people trying to get out of the way as a headless bird floundered on the ground. Another clip features grinning contestants holding the severed head of a rooster.

One photo shows a man holding a bottle of beer in one hand and the bloodstained, decapitated head of a chicken in the other.

Several recent messages appeared on the page, including notes that read "Gotta kill them all!" and "finally, my first massacer (sic)."

About 150 people had been invited when the site was pulled off line in recent days. Forty seven people had confirmed their attendance.

Meanwhile, Manon Legare of a Quebec City humane society said her association has alerted provincial police.

She hopes they launch an investigation into the Thetford Chicken Massacre.

"We are not against people who eat meat," Legare said.

"We are against the act of organizing something that amuses people over the death of an animal."

The Thetford Chicken Massacre is held every year just outside Thetford Mines, south of Quebec City, on property owned by local doctor Gaston Dorval.

Dorval told all-news TV channel LCN that his two sons organize the day-long bash every year at his cottage.

"The chicken killings take about 10 or 15 minutes out of the whole day," Dorval said.

"We kill them ourselves and we cook them on the barbecue. Everything is eaten that night."

He said chickens suffer more in an abattoir, where their throats are cut.

Dorval told his sons years ago that chickens jump around for several seconds after their heads are chopped off.

"They didn't believe me, so they tried it and that's how it started," he said.

The only people upset with the event are those who come from the city who have never seen anyone kill an animal before, Dorval added.

"The hen doesn't suffer, we cut off the head in one shot," he said.

Still, Dorval said he is willing to cut off the Thetford Chicken Massacre if he's faced with the threat of criminal charges.