PETA is advocating for Punxsutawney Phil to step down from his long-standing role of predicting the weather in the United States. They propose replacing him with a large coin for this purpose.
The animal rights group has written a letter to Tom Dunkel, the president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, asking them to substitute the well-known groundhog with a large coin for the celebration of Groundhog Day on February 2nd.
According to PETA, he does not have any expertise in meteorology, and it is unfair to use him every year solely for the purpose of generating tourism revenue.
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PETA made a request to the club in 2022, suggesting the use of a persimmon tree as a weather predictor instead of relying on Phil.
At the time, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk stated that Phil is highly skilled in digging tunnels, searching for food, and living according to nature's design rather than being knowledgeable in the field of meteorology.
PETA wants to assist the groundhog club in starting a more compassionate February 2nd by allowing Phil and his companion to be relocated to a trustworthy sanctuary. In this sanctuary, they can live without any concerns, without being handled roughly, and have the opportunity to engage in their natural behaviors that they are currently unable to do in their Plexiglas enclosure, as stated by Newkirk.
For over a century, people from the local community and visitors from all over have been going to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to witness the emergence of Phil, a small and furry creature, from his temporary dwelling. 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.
In 1993, a film called Groundhog Day, featuring Bill Murray as a weatherman who is unhappy and trapped in a repeating time sequence, was released.
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