Northport Fire Department Bans All Animal Acts

After learning that the Banana Derby—a “monkey rodeo” that chains and tethers capuchin monkeys to dogs’ backs and races them around a track—was coming to the Northport Firemen’s Fair in Northport, New York, PETA and Long Island Orchestrating for Nature (LION) urged the village’s fire department to cancel the cruel act and took to the streets to protest the inhumane entertainment, demonstrating outside the fair. Efforts proved successful: Not only did the Northport Fire Department agree to ban the Banana Derby, it also publicly pledged not to hire animal acts of any kind again.