Is It Time For The Cowboy Monkey Rodeo To Go Extinct?
As Minor League Baseball teams take the field this summer, cowboy monkey rodeos shouldn't be invited along as "entertainment," says anthropologist Barbara J. King.
There's an entertainment act that's showing up at Minor League Baseball games in which border collies take the field with capuchin monkeys strapped onto their backs.
Together the dog-monkey teams race at speeds up to 30 miles per hour — chasing after sheep — to applause from spectators.
The cowboy monkey rodeo spectacle has been called "an American sensation" and "a wildly popular entertainment act."
But how do the animals involved feel?
A coalition of animal-welfare organizations hoping to see the practice stopped says it is anything but fun and games for them.
