'Come and take it:' Gov. Shapiro rebuffs PETA's offer to replace Groundhog Day

Emily Bloch, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Feb 1, 2025

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PHILADELPHIA — Gov. Josh Shapiro was quick to shut down PETA’s offer to replace Groundhog Day with a vegan cake.

“Come and take it,” the Pennsylvania governor quipped Friday morning after the animal rights group suggested rebranding the annual Punxsutawney festival.

Last month, PETA sent a letter to Punxsutawney Groundhog Club president Tom Dunkel with the pitch: PETA would deliver a “weather reveal” vegan cake — a play on gender reveal cakes — in exchange for Punxsutawney Phil and his family’s retirement to a reputable sanctuary.

The group said a blue cake would signify six more weeks of winter while pink would indicate an early spring. Needless to say, the Groundhog Club didn’t take the bait and Groundhog Day is still on.

Sunday marks Groundhog Day’s 139th year. The annual event, which occurs every Feb. 2, serves as an economic and cultural boom for the otherwise small Pennsylvania town with a population of about 6,000 people, bringing in tens of thousands of visitors.

In Punxsutawney, Phil’s footprint is inescapable. There are more than 40 statues of him — which are dubbed Phantastic Phils — throughout the town. A police station, fire station, and post office have a Phil in corresponding uniforms.

His lore is up there with Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.

There’s only been one Punxsutawney Phil for the last 139 years, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club insists. He gets his staying power by sipping on the “elixir of life,” provided to him by the club. But they don’t extend the same courtesy to his wife, Phyllis — “so she will not live forever like Phil,” the club’s website said — or their new groundhog babies. Shadow and Sunny are just shy of a year old and mark the first time Phil and Phyllis had procreated.

Still, PETA doesn’t appear to be amused by Phil’s storyline.

“When allowed to be themselves, groundhogs avoid humans, create intricate networks of underground burrows, communicate with one another, and even climb trees, but poor Phil is denied all of that for a tired old gimmick,” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement. “PETA is urging The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club to sprinkle some happiness into Phil’s life by retiring him and giving Groundhog Day a much-needed ‘cake makeover.’”

Shapiro — who attended the festivities last year — wasn’t having it. The governor’s office said it was holding its ground for Phil.

“The governor is dead serious in his defense of this historic Pennsylvania tradition and remains committed to protecting Punxsutawney Phil and the inner circle, and the role they play in the Groundhog Day celebration,” a spokesperson told The Guardian.

And it looks like Shapiro will be ready to defend Phil in person, if necessary. A media advisory from his office circulated Saturday said that he would join the groundhog and his Inner Circle for celebrations in Punxsutawney Sunday morning.

“Shapiro will join Punxsutawney Phil and the Pennsylvania Tourism Office for the 139th Groundhog Day celebration to mark the beloved Pennsylvania tradition and join the world in learning if there will be six more weeks of winter or an early spring for 2025, when Punxsutawney Phil makes his prognostication,” the advisory said.