Hands off our hog!
PETA activists are calling for Punxsutawney Phil, the region’s fluffiest weather predictor, to be replaced with a vegan “weather reveal cake” during Sunday’s annual Groundhog Day celebration in Pennsylvania.
The animal rights organization sent a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club offering to provide the vegan treat, which would mimic that of a gender reveal for a baby, for the annual Feb. 2 ceremony in Gobbler’s Knob if they agree to retire the beloved rodent and his family to a “reputable sanctuary.”
The group argued in the Jan. 21 letter to Tom Dunkel, president of the Pennsylvania-based club, that the 138-year-old tradition should be scrapped, noting that Phil’s weather duties are “no piece of cake for him.”
“When allowed to be themselves, groundhogs avoid humans, create intricate networks of underground burrows, communicate with one another, and even climb trees, but poor Phil is denied all of that for a tired old gimmick,” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement.
“PETA is urging The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club to sprinkle some happiness into Phil’s life by retiring him and giving Groundhog Day a much-needed ‘cake makeover.’”
The world-famous ritual, which dates back to 1887, has resulted in thousands of loyal fans flocking to Punxsutawney each year to see if the prognosticating groundhog will spot his shadow when he awakens.
Tradition dictates that there will be six more weeks of winter if the groundhog sees his shadow. If he doesn’t, it means spring is near – but PETA believes the critter has been exploited.
The proposed dessert would instead reveal a blue filling if the cold weather is expected to continue, with pink frosting indicating an early spring.
“Yet, year after year, Phil is transported to Gobler’s Knob, whisked on stage, and subjected to a noisy announcer, screaming crowds, and flashing lights against all his natural instincts,” Newkirk said in her pun-filled letter, which suggested a cake would be a more accurate predictor.
“If approached in his natural habitat, he would run away in fear, not volunteer to live year-round in captivity, unable to do anything that’s natural and important to him like hibernate or burrow – just to be a town’s once-a-year fake meteorologist.”
If the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club doesn’t like the cake idea, Newkirk offered to provide them with a large thermometer that reads, “If it’s still cold, it’s still winter.”
PETA has previously called for Phil’s retirement and offered multiple alternatives for Groundhog’s Day, including a giant gold coin last year.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.