C'mon Man! Monkey See - Monkey Do!

Just for the record, I love animals. Well, ok, I’m not a fan of a mouse in the house or a bat in my habitat, but otherwise I consider myself an animal fan. I even like going to zoos but then again I understand the debate about the morality of keeping animals in cages simply for our viewing pleasure, and then this recent lawsuit comes along to hammer this point home even more.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund announced it is suing the Dixie Landin’ theme park and its owner for violating the Endangered Species Act by keeping Candy, the theme park’s chimpanzee, isolated and neglected. They describe Candy as the “the country’s loneliest chimpanzee” and that she lives by herself in a barren concrete cage. Here’s the kicker…they also allege that Candy passes her time by “staring into space, drinking Coca-Cola and smoking cigarettes thrown to her by patrons.”

I fully support this lawsuit but also suggest adding the Dixie Landin’ patrons who supplied the contraband to the list of defendants. It sounds like Candy’s living conditions are abhorrent enough without the added luxury of free cigarettes and all the Coke she can drink. What’s next, maybe tossing in some Big Macs and a box of donuts?! I’m just sayin’, how does a Chimpanzee know what to do with a cigarette unless they see a whole bunch of homo-sapiens doing it? Who can blame her since, as noted in recent study of 34 peer countries, the US ranked 27th in disease burden brought on by dietary factors, 27th on high body mass index (BMI) and 29th in blood sugar levels….Candy is just following our lead. C’Mon Man!