Any publicity is good publicity has got to be the motto for PETA. Every time I see something new they are coming after I roll my eyes. And this one is no exception. PETA is now going after the live mascot of a popular college. Let’s face it, there are some unique live mascots in college athletics. Tigers, the Texas Longhorn, UNC has a ram. I could maybe entertain this complaint if it was directed at one of those. But no, they are going after a dog. Uga the Georgia Bulldog is now the target of PETA campaign. Yesterday they posted the “demand” on their website.
Here is the statement PETA put out on Uga the live mascot of the University of Georgia:
In the wake of the University of Georgia’s (UGA) decisive national championship win over Texas Christian University, PETA sent a letter this morning to UGA President Jere W. Morehead urging him to make the school a winner not only in football but also in its treatment of others by retiring the school’s English bulldog mascot, Uga. The group notes that the school’s use of Uga drives demand for breathing-impaired breeds (BIB), such as pugs, boxers, and English and French bulldogs, whose breeding is being banned in other countries, as their purposely bred, grotesquely flattened faces leave them struggling to walk, play, and even breathe.
“As the back-to-back national champion, can’t UGA find it in its heart to honestly examine the impact of its promotion of deformed dogs and call time on its outdated, live-animal mascot program?” asks PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Jere Morehead to be a peach and replace poor Uga with a human mascot who can support the team in a winning way.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—notes that Uga is a living, feeling being, not a toy to be carted to chaotic football stadiums across the country and trotted out in front of scores of screaming fans.
The letter, which can be read in full here, was sent to the UGA President. They claim that the University is “subjecting dogs to the stress and dangers of being used as the University of Georgia’s “Uga” mascot.” Meanwhile, these live college mascots are most likely living better lives than the majority of humans in this country. They are treated like royalty by the institutions and have loving homes for when they are not “working”. And the working, in Uga’s case looks like resting in an airconditioned crate (that remains open) on the field during the game. I’m an alumnus of NC State University and while we can’t, understandably, have a live wolf as a mascot, we do have a dog as well. His name is Tuffy and he’s a Tamaskan wolf dog. And everyone loves him! I can’t imagine doing away with live mascots and I hope schools never do.
Two words - Hell. No.#GoDawgs https://t.co/wuk8NKIhr1
— Chris Carr (@ChrisCarr_Ga) January 12, 2023
I’m pretty sure PETA’s demands will be turned down by Georgia. This topic was posted on Reddit College Football and it was not well received. Commenters such as u/apietryga13 said “if I don’t die and come back as a pet like Uga, I’m going to be so pissed”. Anyone who pays attention knows that these animals are not suffering. Another user u/remember_berries (who is an Alabama fan with no reason to defend Georgia) said “I’ll take a stab and say that Uga lives better than myself”. Sorry PETA, better luck next time and no more picking on the live mascot of any college.
Ranking All 68 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament Teams By Their Mascots
