It's time to celebrate, everyone. Today is one of our favorite holidays, Groundhog Day! But the strange publicity-hungry animal rights group, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), doesn't like the idea of trotting out Punxsutawney Phil every year, and demands that an animatronic model be used instead of that poor little groundhog.

All those bright lights and noisy crowds of tens of thousands of Groundhog Day celebrants might just spook the poor animal, and it's just doggone cruel, says PETA. Isn't it? Let's get a fancy robot to trot out into the sunlight (or lack thereof), and then use special light-sensitive technology to determine if there's a shadow or not. Perhaps the technology could be so accurate, it could predict exactly how many weeks more of winter we must endure, rather than just a round number like six.

The guy who runs the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club every February 2 begs to differ with the PETA crazies, insisting groundhog Phil is kept in a climate-controlled environment, and is "treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania." It seems to us PETA could find something better to do.

Boston Phoenix, via Neatorama