PETA wants Punxsutawney Phil to retire; Groundhog Club president responds

PETA is suggesting Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog call it a career.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Punxsutawney Groundhog Club president Bill Deeley on Tuesday morning and asked for Punxsutawney Phil to retire “to a reputable sanctuary and start using a cutting-edge animatronic groundhog that could actually predict the weather using artificial intelligence instead,” according to a release.

Deeley talked to the Punxsutawney Spirit late Tuesday and said he had not read PETA’s letter, but he would “invite them to come to Punxsutawney and see how Phil is treated.”

”As I’ve said in the past, Phil lives better than the average child in Western Pennsylvania,” Deeley said.

The letter, signed by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, says “an AI Phil would renew interest in Punxsutawney, generating a great deal of buzz.”

“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 goes on to say.

Deeley claimed “PETA wants to piggyback off of his (Phil’s) fame for their own publicity” and added “I think the crowd for this year’s Groundhog Day could be one of the largest ever.”

Groundhog Day festivities are scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 2, in Punxsutawney.