PETA wants to replace Punxsutawney Phil with a cake on Groundhog Day

The organization, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, shared their idea in a news release on Jan. 21 saying they would deliver a vegan cake each Groundhog Day if club president Tom Dunkel agreed to let Phil retire to a sanctuary.

PETA is suggesting a new way to celebrate Groundhog Day that doesn't involve pulling Punxsutawney Phil out of his hole.

Instead of the groundhog predicting the weather, PETA would like to see a "weather reveal" cake used in the ceremony. The organization says it will deliver a vegan cake each Groundhog Day if club president Tom Dunkel agrees to let Phil retire to a sanctuary.

"If the inside of the cake is blue, there will be six more weeks of winter. If it’s pink, there will be an early spring," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in her letter to Dunkel. "This would allow you to still make tourism dough while showing Phil a slice of decency. It would be as least as accurate as asking a groundhog what to expect in a way that doesn’t even reflect his nature."

Newkirk went on to point out that groundhogs are shy prey animals who actively avoid humans when allowed and called out the Groundhog Club for subjecting Phil "to a noisy announcer, screaming crowds, and flashing lights against all his natural instincts."

It isn't the first year PETA has attempted to retire Punxsutawney Phil.

In 2024, the group offered to replace the groundhog with a giant gold coin, while in 2022 they suggested officials predict the weather with persimmon seeds.

The annual Groundhog Day celebration is scheduled to take place in Pennsylvania on Feb. 2. Phil predicted an early spring in 2024 after not seeing his shadow.