Groundhog's Day

[left-of-center2012]

PETA is suggesting Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog call it a career.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club on Tuesday morning and asked for Punxsutawney Phil to retire “to a reputable sanctuary and start using a cutting-edge animatronic groundhog that could actually predict the weather using artificial intelligence instead,” according to a release.

The letter, signed by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, says “an AI Phil would renew interest in Punxsutawney, generating a great deal of buzz. Today’s young people are born into a world of terabytes, and to them, watching a nocturnal rodent being pulled from a fake hole isn’t even worthy of a text message,”.

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club had not responded to the letter as of Tuesday afternoon.

Groundhog Day festivities are scheduled to take place as planned on Sunday, Feb. 2, in Punxsutawney.

https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/peta-wants-punxsutawney-phil-to-retire/

[dewsgirl]

1. Didn't one of the groundhogs from the last couple years,

get dropped and die? It was a female GH. Obviously this didn't happen on the air, but I vaguely remember something about this.
I found this:

[left-of-center2012]

2. "dropped by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio"

Not Punxsutawney,
where I went to junior high.

[FakeNoose]

3. Actually these animals are well-cared-for

I don't believe there's any unethical treatment of these groundhogs in Punxsutawney. As for their ability to "predict" weather, we all know that it's an old wives' tale anyway.

[left-of-center2012]

4. I grew up in western PA

About 12 miles outside "Punxsy", as the locals call it.