‘HE IS NOT A METEOROLOGIST:’ PETA wants to retire Punxsutawney Phil

Denette Wilford
Published Jan 26, 2024  •  Last updated Jan 26, 2024  •  1 minute read
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Groundhog handler AJ Derume holds Punxsutawney Phil, who saw his shadow, predicting a late spring during the 136th annual Groundhog Day festivities on February 2, 2022 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
Groundhog handler AJ Derume holds Punxsutawney Phil, who saw his shadow, predicting a late spring during the 136th annual Groundhog Day festivities on February 2, 2022 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Photo by Jeff Swensen /Getty Images

PETA is hoping this year’s Groundhog Day in the United States is going to be much different than in years past.

The animal rights organization is hoping to change up the winter tradition by replacing the day’s star, Punxsutawney Phil, with … a giant coin.

PETA penned a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club with a plan to retire the rodent and send it to a “reputable sanctuary.”

The coin signifies a better chance of predicting the weather for the coming spring than Phil, whose overall accuracy rate is about 36%, PETA said.

“Phil is an individual who, although intelligent and self-aware, can’t predict the weather,” PETA noted.

They added that it was “abusive” to keep him, or any other animal, “imprisoned for a cruel annual gimmick.”

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“He is not a meteorologist, and he deserves better than to be exploited every year for tourism money,” PETA declared.

“Should kindness prevail, the huge coin could easily replace him as the Pennsylvania town’s gimmick to draw in tourists.”

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PETA’s goal is to protect the “shy, solitary animal.”

They wrote: “They don’t want to live in confinement in a local library, where they can’t do anything that’s natural and important to them. They also don’t want to be used to prognosticate the weather or be exposed to flashing cameras, human handling or noisy crowds.”

Groundhog handler AJ Derume and Punxsutawney Phil, who saw his shadow, predicting a late spring during the 137th annual Groundhog Day festivities on February 2, 2023 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
Groundhog handler AJ Derume and Punxsutawney Phil, who saw his shadow, predicting a late spring during the 137th annual Groundhog Day festivities on February 2, 2023 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Photo by Michael Swensen /Getty Images

In previous years, PETA has launched campaigns to free Phil.

In 2022, the group asked officials to use a persimmon tree to predict the weather, and in 2020, PETA recommended an animatronic groundhog be the weather prophet.

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