Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro hit back at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Friday, after the activist group sent a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club promising to send them a vegan “weather reveal cake” if they agreed to stop pulling Punxsutawney Phil out of his burrow for his Feb. 2 prognostication.
“Come and take it,” Shapiro tweeted in response to a New York Post story on PETA’s demand.
Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro, told Fox News Digital the governor stands by his comments and said he will again make the trip to Gobbler’s Knob in Jefferson County on Sunday to witness Phil’s 138th meteorological prediction.
Shapiro has been on-hand for every Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney since taking office in 2023.
PETA CALLS TO END GROUNDHOG DAY TRADITION, REPLACE PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL WITH CAKE
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, appears with Punxsutawney Phil. (Getty Images)
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk told the Post that Phil is denied the traditional lifestyle of a groundhog “for a tired old gimmick.”
Visitors to Punxsutawney year-round can visit Phil and his “wife,” Phyllis, at the borough library. On this reporter’s last visit to the area, the rodents had recently become proud parents to a new baby groundhog, as well.
While Groundhog Day is considered a national holiday and has even been popularized in the classic 1993 Bill Murray film of the same name, the day — and Phil himself — hold a special place in many Pennsylvanians’ hearts.
In addition to the large ceremony in western PA, throughout the rest of the Commonwealth, many historically Pennsylvania German communities are home to a “Grundsau Lodsch” or Groundhog Lodge.
GROUNDHOG DAY QUIZ! HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE FACTS ABOUT THIS UNIQUE DAY?
Each lodge holds an annual banquet or “Versommling” in honor of their totem – Phil – with “Lodsch Nummer Ains an de Lechau” (Lodge #1 on the Lehigh River) in Allentown hosting theirs annually on the February 2 holiday itself…
