In pictures: Whiplash the Rodeo monkey
Exclusive by Paul Henderson In Big Spring, Texas 29/06/2008
Monkey riding a dog (pic: Dan Callister)
A capuchin on a dog rounds up sheep in a Wild West show. Hilarious.. or just cruel?
Rodeo-riding is no monkey business...as this little fella shows.
These are the extraordinary pictures of a sheep-herding primate called Whiplash who's become a huge star in the States.
The 21-year-old animal clings to his saddle on top of a border collie in his mini cowboy outfit and hat, thrilling the crowd at the Rodeo and Cowboy Reunion in Big Spring, Texas, last week.
Whiplash's hilarious buckingbronco style of riding has won him thousands of fans.
And his fame is spreading. After starring in an advertising campaign for a taco restaurant chain, he's become an internet hit, with millions lapping up his antics on videosharing websites such as YouTube.
But animal rights campaigners are not among his fans - and believe the capuchin monkey is being cruelly exploited for people's amusement.
Tommy Lucia, his owner, insists Whiplash wouldn't have it any other way. "I rescued him from a stinking cage in Florida when he was just a baby and I can assure you he'd let me know if life wasn't good," he says.
"I love him like I love my children."
Tommy, 67, of Weatherford, Texas, who has been touring with Whiplash around the rodeo circuit for 18 years, says the monkey's the boss when it comes to the shows.
"The sheep dogs Toby and Bud know their place and he curses them just like he does me if things are not going right," he says.
"He's got such a strong will you never quite know what he's going to do next - there's always a surprise for me and the audience.
"But he's a natural when he's in the saddle. He has great balance, he's very strong and aware, and anticipates every twist and turn.
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"Some of Whiplash's expressions still make me roar with laughter.
When he's done for the day he goes to our motor home for dinner. His favourite foods are pears, apples, bananas and especially strawberries."
Whiplash has already performed more than 100 times this year at rodeos, NBA basketball games, private functions for celebs and TV shows.
And he doesn't work for peanuts either. Tommy has earned hundreds of thousands from Whiplash's performances.
But animal rights campaigners say it's cruel to turn the monkey - whose natural habitat is in the rainforests of Central and South America, living in a large family group - into a performer.
A spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States said: "This monkey is not having fun and neither is any other wild animal forced to live its life as a subject of entertainment for humans.
"Whether it is a monkey dressed as a cowboy or an elephant forced to perform in a circus, wild animals in the entertainment industry lead lonely and miserable lives."
Tommy rubbishes these suggestions, saying: "I've never forced Whiplash to perform. There's no pressure on him. I just want him to have fun just like his fans."
"He's a natural in the saddle"
