Target: Tom Dunkel, President of Punxsutawney Groundhog Club
Goal: Stop stressing out groundhogs and depriving them of critical natural stimulation.
Every year, the nation “celebrates” groundhogs: animals that are legally killed any other time of year because they’re considered nuisances for daring to build their homes. These celebrations involve loud public exhibitions for animals that are by their nature sensitive and easily frightened. For the most famous groundhog of them all, Punxsutawney Phil, the trauma is not relegated to one day.
Most Americans have only seen this groundhog when he makes his yearly appearance to “predict” the weather. Yet residents of the Pennsylvania town he calls home can see him daily at a local library, where he remains on display year-round. Not only is he exposed to constant stress, but he seemingly cannot even participate in the natural activities that are vital for his well-being, such as hibernation.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has long denounced this apparently cruel practice and has even recently offered a human representative or a robot to take Phil’s place and carry out the yearly tradition. Sign the petition below to urge the organization responsible for Phil’s “care” to honor PETA’s request to send him to a sanctuary.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mr. Dunkel,
As someone whose fame and business are derived from groundhogs, you are likely very familiar with these animals. As such, you seemingly know the stress and the physical harm that is visited upon them when they are forced out of their naturally reclusive habitats. It’s little wonder that they’re usually scared by their “shadows” on Groundhog Day. Moreover, you probably know how they cannot thrive when they are denied basic needs like hibernation.
Punxsutawney Phil has brought smiles to the masses, and now it is past time for him to enjoy a life of peaceful retirement. PETA has requested that you allow this animal and his mate to live out their lives in a natural habitat sanctuary, and they have proposed humane alternatives to the famous ceremony that takes place annually. If you truly care about the animals behind the holiday, honor this request and make Groundhog Day a true celebration, not an ode to callous cruelty.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Chris Flook
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Please stop trusting PETA when they kill animals themselves. http://www.petakills.org
YES!!!! SHOCKING AND OUTRAGED to learn of PETA’s policy of killing so many animals that could have found homes!
MONUMENTAL BETRAYAL!!!
Do you eat meat? If so shut up because you are just as bad.
Most meat eaters I know have no problem being up front about it…PETA, on the other hand, pretends to care about animals…even taking pets people can no longer keep, then euthanizing them without even trying to find them homes, never telling the owners that is what they are going to do!
No, I don’t eat meat…but, being hypocrites like PETA is inexcusable.
That being said, they should stop torturing this poor animal for people’s amusement.
“Prove it.”
So now you are a professional on PETA. Do you even do proper research on why certain animals get put down or do you just skim through what you read? Some animals get put down for reasons like if that animal has a disease or virus that can’t be cured and might infect other animals, or if that animal is beyond helping. So do YOUR own research on proper websites before you choose to shoot your mouth off without having all the facts. Thank You for sharing. Have a nice day.
Employed or related to animal abusers? thought so. You are worthless to animals.
I always thought this was a ridiculous event. Men standing in top hats… Really? Can they see their shadow? Why bother a sleeping critter for a stupid holiday?
absolutely agree. Old traditions don’t need to be to the deterimant of animals living their lives
I agree with you. We had a ground hog on our property once and we never touched it.He was a shy animal who kept to himself.He hsd his domain ane we had ours.
Ias a retired librarian I am disturbed by Phil being kept on display. A library staff should kniw better. This is shameful.
Use human babies. Mother fucker are a waste to our soceity BBQ babies
Stop The Madness
Help The Voiceless
Who cares?
There have been real cases where the person holding the poor ground hog have dropped him and he has been terribly injured or even killed. This is a silly and childish pratice that needs to be done away with.
Free Punxsutawney Phil From Role as Captive Weather Predictor.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has long denounced this apparently cruel practice and has even recently offered a human representative or a robot to take Phil’s place and carry out the yearly tradition. Sign the petition below to urge the organization responsible for Phil’s “care” to honor PETA’s request to send him to a sanctuary.
If you truly care about the animals behind the holiday, honor this request and make Groundhog Day a true celebration, not an ode to callous cruelty.
The groundhog behind the famous holiday lives an existence of needless stress and exploitation throughout the year. Demand an end to this cruelty under the guise of entertainment.
This vile an evil sadism and evilness must be banned immediately.
Would it be significantly less cruel to use a different groundhog each year, then release it back into the wild before catching a new one?
Okay, I’ve signed it now, but there’s a lot I don’t agree with PETA on, and I think the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club should consider my suggestion, with only a few days’ worth of captivity, ideally with much better conditions than are currently present.
Oh my let’s side step the issue and debate about PETA.
This ridiculous event could be absolutely hilarious if a human was used! All good fun with exploiting an animal.
This is a stupid tradition to have each year. ALL ANIMAL CRUELTY TOWARDS ALL ANIMALS NEED TO STOP IMMEDIATELY & BE BANNED ALL OVER THE WORLD IMMEDIATELY TOO!!!!
STOP THIS CRUELTY TO THIS POOR GROUNDHOG!!!!~!
Sickening when portrayed in a film to be some cute act of a culture process for the fun of the crowd and film goers. As if the reality isn’t bad enough, us humans ignore the truth and continue the with the using of a defenceless animal . Stop the misery now.