Punxsutawney Phil should be replaced with AI groundhog, says PETA

“Punxsutawney Phil” Looks For His Shadow At Annual Groundhog Day Ritual In PA Punxsutawney Phil being held up to the crowds in 2019. | Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Since 1887, the residents of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania have maintained the belief that an immortal groundhog name Punxsutawney Phil can — and will — predict the end of winter.

As popularized in the film Groundhog Day, each year on February 2nd, Phil is coaxed from his home in a tree stump and displayed to a baying crowd. If Phil “sees his shadow” there’ll be six more weeks of winter, say the top-hatted elders; if not, then an early spring is due.

But it’s time for Punxsutawney to stop terrorizing an innocent rodent, says animal-rights group PETA. Instead, says the organization, Punxsutawney Phil should be replaced with an animatronic groundhog that uses AI to actually...

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