Kenyan track legend in the 800-meters David Rudisha was unamused by reports alleging that a monkey had been named after him by the United States Department of Health.
Last week, the 2-time Olympic Champion responded to a tweet by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an American animal rights organisation based in Virginia, US, which shared a video of the monkey in a cage, with the name Rudisha tagged on the door.
“Is it true?” Rudisha retweeted the tweet with his response.
Several days ago, PETA had questioned the decision by the National Institute of Health (NIH)’ to name the monkey Rudisha, adding that it was being mistreated.
Is this true? https://t.co/bRhgjmA40z
— David Rudisha (@rudishadavid) May 14, 2020
“Sad News. The government-funded experimenters named a monkey after you (Rudisha) and are torturing them with cruel fright experiments. This is Rudisha,” the tweet said.
Efforts by Kenyans.co.ke to reach the athlete for comment, on whether he would sue for name rights, or the implied racism, or further join in the animal protection fight were futile as he was unavailable.