CHICAGO — Citing concern for the welfare of animals, a suburban Chicago county board member is calling for the end of a popular county fair event that features capuchin monkeys dressed as horse jockeys riding atop dogs in a Banana Derby race.
Lake County Fair organizers say the derby will go on as planned during the fair, which runs July 29-Aug. 2 in Grayslake, Ill., but Lake County board member Sandra Hart says her opposition is gaining momentum as people learn more about the animals’ treatment.
In late May, she wrote a letter to the fair’s board that was also signed by 15 other county board members. Since then, she has also gained support from Chicago-area zoos and other animal advocacy groups and collected more than 3,500 signatures on an online petition that seeks to cancel the derby.
“We do not feel that paying a vendor to chain monkeys to the backs of dogs, rescue or otherwise, is the kind of attraction that the Lake County Fair should be endorsing,” Hart wrote in a letter to Lake County Fair Board President Jon Brodzik Jr.
“It does not speak to the values of our county,” she said recently.
She renewed her efforts after Brodzik wrote back to County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor, saying that the fair organization “sees no compelling reason to cancel the Banana Derby attraction at this time.”
The Lake County Fair Association operates independently from Lake County government and is self-supporting.
The fair association contracts with the company Gilligan T. Monkey LLC, based in South Carolina, for the animal performance show and has carefully vetted it to ensure animals’ humane treatment, fair officials said.
Organizers are open to changing the fair’s entertainment lineup in future years based on what the public wants, said Matthew Robertson, the fair association’s general manager.
The monkeys and dogs travel for six months annually, then live with the show promoter’s family.
The promoter, Philip Dolci of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., is a former assistant state’s attorney for DuPage County who “ran away and joined the circus,” he said.
“We have been doing this act for the last 12 years across North America, and nobody ever got hurt,” said Dolci, reached by phone in Michigan, where he is showing the derby. He will bring the monkeys next to the DuPage County Fair, which starts July 22, followed by the Lake County Fair, which has hosted the attraction for six years, he said.
He questioned why the Lake County board members were involved in the letter-writing campaign outside of official business posted on an agenda. He also questioned the motivations of the Lincoln Park Zoo; the Chicago Zoological Society, which oversees Brookfield Zoo; and the Humane Society of the United States, which also wrote letters objecting to the use of capuchin monkeys in the fair.
“The use of primates in this show has serious welfare consequences for the monkeys, poses public health and safety concerns, and may even have consequences for primate conservation,” the zoological organizations wrote.
Dolci questioned why the zoos are allowed to display animals and include them in entertainment shows.
“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” he said. “I don’t know why they have the right to say they can have entertainment but I cannot. … Before they stick their nose in my business, they should look at themselves.”
He referred to Brookfield Zoo’s recent loss of 54 stingrays, which died after oxygen levels dropped in their tank.
Hart scoffed at Dolci’s response.
“I think comparing what he’s doing to a zoo is ridiculous. And actually, offensive,” she said, adding that the zoo offers a more conducive environment for educating the public about animals. “It sounds like he wants to change the conversation to being about zoos. I think the conversation is about the use of these animals for amusement and profit.”
Bill Zeigler, senior vice president of animal programs at Brookfield Zoo, said that the Banana Derby cannot be compared to the zoo, where animals receive training to “enhance natural behaviors” but not to “do tricks.”
“He’s asking capuchin monkeys to do something that is absolutely abnormal,” Zeigler said. “Monkeys — they don’t ride dogs.”
He added that the zoo is nonprofit. “Yeah, people are entertained here (at Brookfield). But our mission is conservation leadership,” he said.
Dolci holds a license as an animal exhibitor with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which performs spot inspections on his business to ensure compliance with the federal Animal Welfare Act.
The USDA retains three years of records on animal exhibitors, and has found Dolci to be in compliance with the law in recent years, according to the agency.
From 2007 to 2010, USDA inspectors found two instances in which the monkeys Dolci exhibits were being held in a cage smaller than the minimum required size, as well as one instance when a dog was not securely restrained when being transported, according to USDA inspection reports provided by the Humane Society.
In 2007, an inspector reported that Dolci “provided us with erroneous, conflicting and confusing information such that we were not able to locate the monkeys,” according to the report obtained by the Humane Society.
“If we find deficiencies in a facility’s compliance with the law, we typically give the facility a date by which to correct those items,” said USDA spokeswoman Andrea McNally. “Many infractions can be settled with an official notice of warning or a stipulation offer.”
Dolci said the USDA has never taken any action against him and that he remains in good standing.
The DuPage County Fair will feature the Banana Derby for the first time, despite the controversy, said Jim McGuire, fair association manager. He has contacted other fair organizers to ask their opinion and concluded “it is good entertainment.”
“We feel the animals are well taken care of,” said McGuire, adding that two veterinarians remain on the grounds throughout the fair. “His show has been well-received. He has gotten a lot of compliments. People have enjoyed it.”
Capuchin monkeys are described as highly intelligent and emotionally complex, according to zoo officials.
Robertson said the fair association is “more than willing” to sit down with officials from both zoos to “talk about some alternatives for next year.”
“We feel like a partnership with either of these entities is an exciting idea, and we would welcome that conversation,” he said.
