Penn frat embroiled in camel controversy

UNIVERSITY CITY - April 22, 2011 (WPVI) -- Several pictures were taken... at a fraternity party... on the University of Pennsylvania. That's nothing unusual... But what IS unusual is the subject of those photos... And it's creating quite a stir.

Photos of the camel turned up on the internet and now the University of Pennsylvania is investigating the animal's appearance at a fraternity party last Friday.

The camel in question is Kahn. Last Friday night, he made an appearance as part of a petting zoo for a Spring Fling party at the Zeta Psi Fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania.

Action News actually was there when Kahn came to Penn's campus. We shot video as he stood outside getting petted and, it would seem, admired by people passing by.

But one Penn graduate student wasn't so amused. He saw the camel lying on the ground surrounded by several women holding plastic cups. That grad student snapped some photos and at least one of them ended up on the internet. Many who commented described the scene as disgusting and worrisome.

The students, we've learned, hired a Bucks County company called Peaceable Kingdom to bring the camel to campus. According to its website, Peaceable Kingdom brings animals to hospitals, nursery schools, supermarkets and other locations to quote "bring smiles to the faces of both young and old."

But some aren't smiling about what they see in the photo from Facebook, and now the university is investigating.

The owner of Peaceable Kingdom has reportedly said that the animal was content, not abused, and carefully supervised by her staff. She is worried this could hurt her business.

The university hopes to have a resolution soon.

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