PETA is advocating for the retirement of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog known for annually predicting the weather in the United States. They propose replacing him with a giant coin.
The animal rights group has written a letter to Tom Dunkel, the president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, asking them to replace the well-known groundhog with a large coin on Groundhog Day, celebrated on February 2nd.
According to PETA's statement, the person in question is not a professional meteorologist, and they should not be taken advantage of annually for the sake of generating tourism revenue.
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PETA made a request to the club in 2022, suggesting that they should use a persimmon tree as a weather predictor instead of relying on Phil.
According to Ingrid Newkirk, the president of PETA, Phil is skilled in digging tunnels, searching for food, and living in accordance with his natural instincts, rather than being knowledgeable about meteorology.
PETA is aiming 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. This sanctuary would provide Phil with a worry-free life, free from being handled and spun around, and allow him to engage in natural behaviors that he has been deprived of in his current Plexiglas enclosure, said Newkirk.
Since 1887, people from both the local community and visitors from different places have been traveling to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to witness an event where a small and furry creature named Phil comes out of his temporary dwelling. Depending on whether Phil sees his shadow or not, it is believed to determine either six more weeks of winter or an early arrival of spring.
The film Groundhog Day, featuring Bill Murray as a weatherman who is unhappy with his job and trapped in a repetitive time cycle, came out in 1993.
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