Heavy Petting: Monkey cowboys riding dogs

So I see this Buzzfeed item that claims, today, people are checking out the state fair sensation that is the Banana Derby. I'm like, "What the heck is that?" I click through and look at a picture. It's stupid cute. There's a monkey riding a dog in this rodeo ring. What's not to love? Then I bring it up in a meeting and our Annette goes, "Oh you mean like Whiplash?" Turns out, Whiplash is like, the most famous rough rider among what I can only assume are the totally competitive ranks of monkey jockeys, and someone gave her a Whiplash mug that she keeps on her desk. (She also dug up this rather nifty pre-shrunk cotton T-shirt.)

The animal advocate in me wonders, is this some (ridiculously cute) form of animal abuse? Still, adorable monkeys + cute dogs, together at last. I mean, how can something that looks so right be wrong?

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