As my
last post indicated, my work in the spring and summer often is centered around ending "monkey rodeos", archaic sideshow events that feature capuchin monkeys strapped to racing dogs.
When I discovered that one of the repeat offenders of monkey rodeos, Atlantic League baseball team the York Revolution, had decided not to include rodeos at any games in 2017, my coworkers and I were thrilled. After PETA put out a
press release, the local paper (The York Dispatch) printed an article on this change of heart of the York Revolution. Unfortunately, the article also quoted team leadership claiming that the decision to no longer feature rodeos was not due to animal welfare concerns, and “If he [Tim Lepard, one of three purveyors of monkey rodeos] was really abusing animals, I'm very confident that the appropriate governmental authorities would step in.”
I wrote a letter to the editor explaining the reality of the situation, that in fact there are legitimate welfare concerns but that current laws permit the events to continue, regardless. I asked teams hosting rodeos to recognize these truths and move forward with more compassion.
The York Dispatch does not publish all articles online, so below is a photo from a paper copy they mailed to me.
Note that the typo in the first line is not mine; it should read "The May 6 article 'Cowboy Monkey Rodeo Not Scheduled for Revs 2017 Season' featured..."
