Anyone watching Toronto's Breakfast Television this morning was greeted by a memorable scene: a zookeeper calling a baboon riding a miniature pony a "cocksucker."
The morning show was live on location at Bowmanville Zoo in Bowmanville, Ont. when the incident occurred.
It is still unclear why the zookeeper in question was trying to get the baboon to ride that miniature pony, but he got very upset when the baboon jumped off.
"You cockersucker. Get up, get up," he muttered at the baboon as the host asked when the zoo is open.
"Who wants some more fruit?" the host then asked as the baboon was led to jump across some elevated platforms.
Breakfast Television is, as one could imagine, not pleased. They later tweeted that they will "no longer be visiting the Bowmanville Zoo."
What happened today was unacceptable and does not reflect our values at BT. As a result, we will no longer be visiting the Bowmanville Zoo.
The video has people raising questions about how animals are treated at the private zoo.
.@Bowmanville_Zoo : If your "trainer" tells a monkey, "Fuck off, cocksucker" on live television, how does he treat animals OFF camera?
.@Bowmanville_zoo shows true colours on live TV - verbally abusing animal during performance. http://t.co/haAB0Ipksm #Shame #DontBuyATicket
Disgusted with #BowmanvilleZoo. If the owner can't keep it together on live TV, i hate to think of his usual treatment of animals.
Bowmanville Zoo has been accused of mistreating its animals in the past.
In 2013, it was named the second-worst zoo for elephants in North America, the Toronto Star reported. At the time, the zoo had a lone elephant named Limba was euthanized later that year.
Limba and other animals were used for travelling acts and other entertainment, like a circus show in Winnipeg in March 2013. Again, at that time, animal rights organizations accused Bowmanville Zoo of mistreatment.
It came under fire yet again in 2014 for bringing lion and tiger cubs to visit the Blue Jays baseball team in Toronto.