Pennsylvania Gov. nixes PETA's proposal to retire Punxsutawney Phil for Groundhog Day 2025
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro isn't a fan of PETA's plan for Punxsutawney Phil.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had suggested the famed weather-forecasting rodent be allowed to retire and replace him with a vegan "weather reveal" cake.
In its letter to Punxsutawney Groundhog Club president Tom Dunkel, the non-profit animal rights group offered to annually deliver a vegan cake to Punxsutawney Phil's home of Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania each Groundhog Day, if the Phil and family are allowed to "retire to a reputable sanctuary," PETA said in a news release.
The "weather reveal" dessert is a play on the gender reveal cake, except blue on the inside of the cake would signify six more weeks of winter and pink would indicate an early spring, the group said.
The governor fired back Friday with the response, "Come and take it," in a post on X, replying to a New York Post story about PETA's proposal.
PETA's previous plans for Punxsutawney Phil
This isn't the first time PETA has asked for Punxsutawney Phil to be relieved of duty. Last year, the group suggested the groundhog be replaced with a giant gold coin and in 2022, they suggested officials predict the weather with persimmon seeds, KTLA5 reported.
PETA may not expect its offers to be accepted, but the group continues in its efforts to draw attention to what they view as animal mistreatment. "We know that locals and tourists who genuinely respect Phil want him to live his life doing what’s natural to him," PETA president Ingrid Newkirk wrote in the letter to Dunkel.
"If you don’t like this idea, the icing on the cake is that we have another offer: We’d be happy to send you a large thermometer for Gobbler’s Knob instead that reads, “If it’s still cold, it’s still winter,” which would aptly represent the absurdity of the current form of this tired old spectacle," she wrote. "We look forward to hearing from you, as always."
Contributing: Julia Gomez.
Follow Mike Snider on Threads, Bluesky and X: mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider.
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