A Japanese football club has been condemned after a monkey on a leash was used in a pre-match ceremony.
The macaque was brought out wearing a Cerezo Osaka shirt for the side’s J1 League game against Vissel Kobe.
It then rolls the ball around with its feet as its handler pulls on rope tied around its neck.
The macaque was brought out wearing a Cerezo Osaka shirt for the side’s J1 League game against Vissel Kobe
It then rolls the ball around with its feet as its handler pulls on rope tied around its neck
The crowd cheers as the referee bows to the macaque before the primate is led off the pitch. Pictured: The primate holding the ball
After a few seconds, it picks up the ball, walks on two feet to the referee and hands it over.
The crowd cheers as the referee bows to the macaque before the primate is led off the pitch.
But the stunt has been slammed by animal rights group PETA, which said it ‘defies the very spirit of football – a fair game between willing participants.’
Elisa Allen, the organisation’s UK director, told Goal: ‘For the monkey, who’s being used as a living prop, it’s no game.
‘Usually in such cases, animals are under the threat of violence with an electric shock prod, and often, their teeth are removed.
‘Monkeys forced to perform at events are usually taken away from their mothers shortly after birth – a heart-breaking trauma from which neither they nor their loving mothers ever fully recover – and are deprived of everything that’s natural and important to them.
But the stunt has been slammed by animal rights group PETA, which said it ‘defies the very spirit of football – a fair game between willing participants’
‘To get them to perform silly tricks, trainers break their spirits through methods involving the fear of punishment. PETA urges the J League to call a red card on using animals for any stunts and to retire this monkey to an accredited sanctuary where he or she can enjoy some semblance of a natural life.’
Cerezo Osaka, however, might be reluctant to ditch their lucky mascot – especially since they won the game 3-1.