Camel Stunt on ‘The Daily Show’ Bombs

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart consistently airs hilarious stories, but the show recently bombed big-time with the public. As part of an ill-conceived skit, the show dragged a live camel onto the slick, snowy streets of Madison, Wisconsin. After the camel got stuck in a fence, an onlooker captured video footage of the camel’s handlers jabbing the animal in the neck and yanking her so hard that she fell to the ground. One handler continued to aggressively jerk the camel even though she might have been injured. When the video hit YouTube, PETA instantly wrote a letter asking Jon Stewart and the other producers to stick with what they do best—writing and delivering witty dialogue—and to respect animals enough to leave them out of future skits. At the same time, Daily Show fans hit the show’s website hard to complain.

We hope that the show responds positively. One need not be an expert in camel behavior—but simply a decent person—to recognize that this skit was unkind and that the idea should have been scrapped.

Not funny, guys, not funny.

Written by Michelle Sherrow