PETA is advocating for the retirement of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who has been traditionally used to predict the weather in the U.S.
The animal rights group has written a letter to Tom Dunkel, the president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, expressing their request to replace the traditional groundhog with a large coin for the upcoming Groundhog Day celebration on February 2nd.
PETA expressed that the person in question is not a meteorologist and should not be taken advantage of annually for the sake of generating tourism revenue.
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PETA approached the club in 2022 with a suggestion to use a persimmon tree as a weather predictor instead of relying on Phil.
According to PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, Phil is highly skilled in digging tunnels, searching for food, and living in accordance with his natural instincts, rather than being knowledgeable in meteorology.
PETA's aim is to assist the groundhog club in starting a more compassionate February 2nd by advocating for Phil (and his companion) to be relocated to a trustworthy sanctuary. In this sanctuary, Phil can live without any concerns, without being handled and spun around, and have the opportunity to engage in natural behaviors that he is currently deprived of in his Plexiglas enclosure.
Since the year 1887, people from both the local area and those visiting from distant places have been making their way to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Their purpose is to witness the emergence of a small and furry creature named Phil from his temporary residence. Depending on whether Phil sees his shadow or not, it indicates whether there will be six more weeks of winter or an early arrival of spring.
The film Groundhog Day, which featured Bill Murray as a frustrated weatherman trapped in a repeating time cycle, came out in 1993.
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