Posted by: Stephen Saban contact

PETA's Had Its Fill of Phil

Animal rights watchdog PETA has an "animals in entertainment specialist" named Gemma Vaughan and she sniffs out the slightest animal cruelty with the tenacity of a dachshund on a wee-wee walk. She's already suggested that the University of Georgia's recently dead© bulldog mascot be replaced with a robotic canine, and now she's set her sights on Punxsutawney Phil, the iconic and lovable groundhog in Pannsylvania who peers out of his hole every second day in February and uncannily forecasts how long winter will last based on whether he sees his shadow or not. Vaughan wants Phil to be retired and replaced by an automaton. In a letter to the Punxsutawaney Groundhog Club, she wrote that the shy rodent, who is uncomfortable around groups of humans and hates loud noises and flash cameras, is "forced to be on display year round at the local library and is denied the ability to prepare for and enter yearly hibernation." The Club's president, William Deeley, responded by saying the groundhog is "being treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania." So now residents of Gobbler's Knob should probably expect Child Welfare to begin an investigation. (via LA Times) 



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