🐱 PETA is calling on Punxsutawney Phil to retire and be replaced with robot

PETA is calling on Punxsutawney Phil to retire and be replaced with robot

The robots are coming for Punxsutawney Phil’s job, too. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling on the keepers of the weather-forecasting groundhog to let him retire — an…

wgntv.com

The robots are coming for Punxsutawney Phil’s job, too.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling on the keepers of the weather-forecasting groundhog to let him retire — and to be replaced by an animatronic groundhog.

PETA wrote in a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club on Monday that it was time for the beloved tradition to change.

Every February 2, Phil gets dragged out of his hole and held up to flashing lights and crowds in what is a highly stressful experience for him, PETA said. And his current accommodations don’t allow him to dig, burrow or forage like non-famous groundhogs naturally do.

“It’s no kind of life for these animals,” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk wrote.

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club could not be immediately reached for comment.

Phil lives in a man-made, climate-controlled and light-regulated zoo, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s website. That zoo is connected with local attractions including a park, square and library in the town of Punxsutawney, in western Pennsylvania.

PETA suggests that instead, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club get hip to existing technologies and create a groundhog with artificial intelligence that could reliably predict the weather.

“An AI Phil would renew interest in Punxsutawney, generating a great deal of buzz, much like Sony’s robot dog ‘aibo,’ which walks, plays, misbehaves, and responds to commands,” the letter reads.

“By creating an AI Phil, you could keep Punxsutawney at the center of Groundhog Day but in a much more progressive way. Talk about taking your town’s annual tradition in a fresh and innovative direction!”

The animal rights organization also made a dig at the time-honored tradition of having Phil check for his shadow, which draws thousands of people to Gobbler’s Knob each year.

“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 letter reads. “Ignoring the nation’s fast-changing demographics might well prove the end of Groundhog Day.”

 

[moocow]

The "journalist" visited Phil's handler webpage and fired off an email that they didn't immediately respond to.

I love how they never even hide that anymore. "The [poor schmucks we're smearing] didn't immediately respond to a request for comment." Meaning they wrote the story, including that statement, and sent an email asking questions that likely deserve well thought-out responses that would take more than a few minutes to write ... immediately before hitting [publish].

I'd be fascinated to see how the media reacts to an actual stonewalling ... like some big company committing some major gaffe somehow and simply ignoring all calls, letters, emails and in-person "ambushes" by the press asking for comment. Indefinitely. Just straight up never talk to the press about it, ever. Even 10 years later at some random press conference, if some joker asks about [the event], the spokesman just calmly says "next question."

Hard to twist someone's words when they don't give you any to work with.

 

[MrJokerRager]

PETA deserves the P Diddy Live or Die South Park Treatment. I remember when they got mad at Obama for murdering a fly. Can't try that with Daddy Trump though.

 

[KeepHopeAlive]

It's abuse to make him pose for a camera, but squashing 3 of his cousins flat on I-80 during your commute is just nature's way.....

Annnnd if you scoop it up and serve it up, it's just Mama June's way.

 

[heyilikeyourmom]

I’m actually okay with this, it’s a fucking stupid tradition anyway.

 

[Unpaid Emotional Labourer]

Shut up and stop ruining things.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

PETA deserves the P Diddy Live or Die South Park Treatment. I remember when they got mad at Obama for murdering a fly. Can't try that with Daddy Trump though.

I want to see them try. I mean everyone else has jumped on the "I hate everything Trump does" train. Why not them? I mean I'm still surprised no one's tried actually doing something about PETA. Animal cruelty is horrible, but they're hypocrites who either need to be knocked down a peg or burned to ash completely. Not like they'd give a shit if their founders or cult followers volunteers were discovered dead, it's all about the animals after all.

Besides, it's just a groundhog. Does it really fucking matter?

 

[Slappy McGherkin]

I think they should replace him. With a fucking Honey Badger. And then let a loving oh-so-caring PETAtard reach in his burrow to "rescue" him.

 

[Exigent Circumcisions]

He could be replaced with a coin toss.

 

[kcbbq]

He could be replaced with a coin toss.

Or they could use a different marmot every year and sacrifice that year's in a blood orgy. Lots of options.

 

[WonderWino]

PETA thinks that pets are slaves and that flies have human rights. Why should I give a shit about their opinions? At least Phil isn't getting dropped several feet to the ground like a possum on New Year's.

Speaking of which, remember that scene in the shawshank redemption where they're all sitting in the prison canteen eating breakfast and that old guy takes a crow out from under his jacket and starts feeding it maggots he pulled out of the food? Well PETA had such a shitfit over that scene that they literally forced the production company to send someone from PETA to the set to supervise the scene and make sure they only used dead maggots for that scene that 'had died of natural causes'

That says everything you need to know about their mentality right there. Plus the whole euthanizing 97% of all pets surrendered to them (some of them literally within 10 minutes of doing so in the back of vans) thing and the fact the leader of PETA wrote up an insane will talking about how she wanted her body parts sent to various government organizations and the rest of her to be roasted like a pig to show how bad BBQing pigs is or some such nonsense. She literally posted that to their official site a few years back

and on that note i'll point out that I showed that to a friend of mine that was a big PETA supporter before that and had donated thousands of dollars a year (rich family) before that. she read the page, flipped out and flat out said she would never donate another penny to them. So that says alot about how that kind of crazy alienates sane people who would otherwise be supporters. a lesson many different groups, activist and political should keep in mind when they start letting crazy people to join and speak for them

 

[kcbbq]

Speaking of which, remember that scene in the shawshank redemption where they're all sitting in the prison canteen eating breakfast and that old guy takes a crow out from under his jacket and starts feeding it maggots he pulled out of the food? Well PETA had such a shitfit over that scene that they literally forced the production company to send someone from PETA to the set to supervise the scene and make sure they only used dead maggots for that scene that 'had died of natural causes'

That says everything you need to know about their mentality right there. Plus the whole euthanizing 97% of all pets surrendered to them (some of them literally within 10 minutes of doing so in the back of vans) thing and the fact the leader of PETA wrote up an insane will talking about how she wanted her body parts sent to various government organizations and the rest of her to be roasted like a pig to show how bad BBQing pigs is or some such nonsense. She literally posted that to their official site a few years back

and on that note i'll point out that I showed that to a friend of mine that was a big PETA supporter before that and had donated thousands of dollars a year (rich family) before that. she read the page, flipped out and flat out said she would never donate another penny to them. So that says alot about how that kind of crazy alienates sane people who would otherwise be supporters. a lesson many different groups, activist and political should keep in mind when they start letting crazy people to join and speak for them

They weren't just killing everything brought to their shelters, they were driving around tossing the corpses on other people's dumpsters.

 

[Tragi-Chan]

They do realize that the little bastard lives better than every OTHER groundhog on this PLANET, right?

It's abuse to make him pose for a camera, but squashing 3 of his cousins flat on I-80 during your commute is just nature's way.....

That’s because no one gives a shit about PETA and they need the publicity, so they go for the outrage clicks. Next year it’ll be Santa’s reindeer.

 

[Lone MacReady]

How about we leave PA alone and let whites keep what few traditions they have left, untainted.

 

[Mrs Paul]

For godsakes, compared to the life of most groundhogs, Phil is living like a fucking king. Most of those little fuckers are getting shot at by gardeners and turned into roadkill -- yet PETA is worried about the Pimp of Groundhogs.

 

[Haramburger]

"Stop killing animals!" Okay.
"Stop testing on animals!" ugh, maybe in some cases.
"Stop looking at this animal you only care about once a year!" Jesus Christ PETA, move to another planet whydontcha?

 

[I'm Not Racist Anymore]

The groundhog is gonna pull some antics on you like in Caddyshack if you try to take his job away, bitches.

 

[Atomic Wangler]

"Punxsutawney: Become Groundhogs"
Also, who is this robot dog they mentioned. Aibo? I love how PETA's example of a robot that has generated interest is something no one has ever heard of.

 

[Toolbox]

"Punxsutawney: Become Groundhogs"
Also, who is this robot dog they mentioned. Aibo? I love how PETA's example of a robot that has generated interest is something no one has ever heard of.

Aibo was somewhat popular in the early 2000s, before quickly being forgotten about because it can barely do anything. PETA trying to say it's an applicable replacement for a dog speaks volumes about their animatronic groundhog.

 

[saralovesjuicyfruit]

Aibo was somewhat popular in the early 2000s, before quickly being forgotten about because it can barely do anything. PETA trying to say it's an applicable replacement for a dog speaks volumes about their animatronic groundhog.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about those. I had one of these Poo-Chi robot dog toys when I was a kid.

It was pretty lame. My furby was more fun. Neither one of them were more fun or interesting than real animals, though. Robo dogs are best used to amuse/confuse actual dogs.

 

[Shaved Kiwis]

Every time I hear something about PETA it's always something bad. Not even weather forcasting mascots are safe from mechanization. I can't wait for these furry fellas to join the rest of us out of work luddites in shutting down the machines.

They tried to turk their jerbs!