01/28/10

From New York Daily News

PETA pushes for iconic groundhog Punxsutawney Phil to be replaced with ... a robot

By Corky Siemaszko
Daily News Staff Writer
 

Swensen/Getty/Getty Images
Official groundhog handler Bill Deeley holds Punxsutawney Phil as he talks
to the local media February 2, 2005.



Is nothing sacred?

The animal rights group PETA is demanding that America's beloved harbinger of spring, Punxsutawney Phil, be replaced with ... a robot.

The group says it's unfair of the Groundhog Day festival organizers to subject the furry critter to the bright lights and huge crowds that descend on the tiny Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney every Feb. 2.

"Make the compassionate decision to use an animatronic Phil and retire the live groundhogs who are used for Groundhog Day activities to a sanctuary," wrote Gemma Vaughan of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"Tradition is no excuse for cruelty."

William Deeley, president of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, said Phil is the most pampered groundhog in the world.

"This is just crazy," Deeley told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

"Phil is probably treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania. He's got air conditioning in the summer, his pen is heated in winter ... He has everything but a TV in there. What more do you want?"

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Meanwhile, in Punxsutawney, a spokesman for local 2377 of the International Brotherhood of Burrowing Mammals said that union members had voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike if any union member lost his job to mechanization.

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New Jersey groundhogs reacted more aggressively to the news from Pennsylvania...

BOONTON, N.J. (AP) — Police in northern New Jersey needed pepper spray to thwart a groundhog on the attack. Boonton resident Alex Scott told police the rodent chased him when he entered his garage and tried to get his truck. Police Sgt. Mike Danyo and Officer Paul Ryan said the groundhog went on the attack when they arrived.

Police said Danyo tripped and fell. His partner sprayed pepper spray into the groundhog’s face, giving the officers time to snare it.

The animal was euthanized and its remains will be shipped to the state health department for rabies testing.

BATFE and FBI agents are investigating to determine if the groundhog obtained his illegal fully-automatic assault rifle at a gun show. A search of his burrow turned up more illegal weapons and explosives. New Jersey state troopers feel that the groundhog was a member of a violent right-wing militia organization dedicated to overthrowing something.