In the pantheon of animal rights abuse, showing a confused hamster spinning round and round, a dog chasing his own tail or a domesticated pig pushing a toy wagon doesn't rise to the same level of cruelty as wearing fur or raising chickens in tiny enclosures where they step on their own shit.

But there's something about Animal Planet cable channel's "Planet's Funniest Animals" that has been bothering me for years.

Formerly known as "America's Funniest Animals,"...