While last week’s Monday night Dancing with the Stars ended with an announcement that the next evening would feature a chimpanzee as a guest judge — viewers may have noticed that the segment never aired. That’s because PETA caught wind of of the promotion and applied pressure to “DWTS” executive producer Conrad Green to drop the chimp piece. From The Envelope:

PETA cited concerns about how great apes are separated from their mothers, beaten and shocked in training, and discarded once they become too large to handle safely. PETA also sent Green a short video, narrated by Anjelica Huston, which illustrates the many problems associated with using great apes on TV and in film. Green e-mailed PETA to say that he would re-cut Tuesday night’s segment and remove the chimpanzee and he vowed that he will never again use chimpanzees in his productions.

In place of the chimp, a toddler was used instead. Conrad wrote PETA a letter explaining what happened — and how the animal rights org opened his eyes on the issue. “While I have no reason to believe that the chimp we used was treated in this way I do appreciate your point that showing a chimpanzee on our show may indirectly lead to other chimpanzees being ill-treated in the future,” he wrote. “If I had been aware of the information you outlined below I wouldn’t have proceeded with the shoot in the first place, so I’ve decided on balance to re-cut the package we use in tonight’s show to remove any footage of the chimpanzee. While I can’t undo the fact that we did shoot with a chimpanzee I will be sure we don’t do this again in the future.”

Nice work DWTS for removing the piece so quickly! We applaud your stance on not using chimps in future productions of this insanely popular show. And high-fives to PETA for reacting so quickly.

Categories: Animals, Film/TV.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

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