Those PETA kids

[Pete Zicato]

Always good for a laugh.

PETA: Replace Punxsutawney Phil with robot

[Griff]

[SamIam]

The rest of us should be so lucky as that groundhog. He looks fat and sassy to me. Room and board and probably vet care in exchange for one day of work per year. Get real PETA people.

[monster]

isn't "it" currently a "she"?

[Elspode]

When PETA people accidentally run over a possum, do they leap out and commit harakiri?

[Apollo]

Definitely a good response by "Punxsutawney Groundhog Club". And probably very true.

[SamIam]

Braving PETA indignation:

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – An American groundhog delivered his annual weather prediction on Tuesday, declaring that there will be six more weeks of winter after seeing his shadow.

Dubbed "Punxsutawney Phil," the rodent made his forecast in front of some 12,000 people who came from as far as Chile and the Netherlands and braved a chilly 18 degrees Fahrenheit (-8 degrees Celsius) to see the more than century-old tradition.

If Phil does not see his shadow when he emerges from his burrow, which is a box set into a tree stump near the western Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney, spring is said to be just around the corner.

[classicman]

Hasn't he like always seen his shadow?

[Happy Monkey]

There are no shadows on cloudy days.

[xoxoxoBruce]

There is apparently no cloudy days in Punxsutawney.

[Pico and ME]

Bull-effin-shit! Its been nothing but cloudy days around here, for weeks and weeks and weeks, then on that one fateful day, its sunny in Pennsylvania. Honest to God.

Its a conspiracy, I tell you.

[TheMercenary]

It was a miracle.

[ZenGum]

Well, they had to run they day over 17 times to get the shadow.

[DanaC]

I can sort of see where they're coming from...i daresay the lights and noise and crowds once a year probably is distressing for the critter. But five minuutes after he's back in his enclosure and he'll have forgotten all about it. Animals are often a damn sight more resilient than we credit them with being. If they weren't half the wildlife in Britain would be dropping dead of fright every November when the fireworks take over the night sky.

i could see an argument for this as cruelty in terms of his being in captivity...but that kind of depends on how he'd live in the wild and how much of that is replicated in captivity. For instance; I don't know if they're social creatures, but if they are then holding him in a state of isolation could be considered cruel. There is of course an easy way around that: get more groundhogs. If they're not social creatures then isolation is unlikely to be a problem: but access to other groundhogs at whatever times of year groundhogs seek mates etc might be a good call.

I'd have more sympathy with PETA's stand if they were advising on better ways to keep the critter. Otherwise they are knowingly taking on a fight they cannot win just for their own publicity purposes, rather than out of genuine concern for the groundhog.

Which brings me to my other point: fights should be chosen. When you consider some of the cruelties inflicted on farm animals on their way to becoming food; wtf are they doing wasting their time and energy on a relatively well-kept groundhog? Given the abject state of some of the animals used for medical and scientific testing; why is this creature a focus?

It's publicity seeking nonsense. If they actually gave a damn about that creature they'd have the sense to know that this is a losing fight and choose a strategy that seeks to ameliorate rather than end the circsumstances of his captivity.

[jujuwwhite]

[quote=DanaC;632486]I can sort of see where they're coming from...i daresay the lights and noise and crowds once a year probably is distressing for the critter.

I would be more concerned about the poor robot's rights. PETA suggests using a robot instead of the groundhog but truely the groundhog would be more loved and cared for than the poor robot that would only be turned on once a year and then shut off again till the next year. At least the groundhog would be fed and cared for everyday!!