Despite pleas from Brookfield Zoo and members of the Lake County Board to do away with an event featuring monkeys riding dogs, the Lake County Fair plans to keep the popular Banana Derby race.

The traveling show is a feature of many county fairs across the country, using Capuchin monkeys dressed as jockeys, racing around on the backs of dogs.

The Banana Derby has been a staple at the Lake County Fair, but county board member Sandra Hart and others on the board want it gone. She and a majority of the board signed a letter asking the fair to cancel the derby.

"I think it diminishes the value of these animals," she said. "When you dress them up in little jockey outfits, and have them running around a ring like that, it kind of exploits those animals."