Mascots among best treated of animals
After the Bevo-Uga game day incident, PETA wants to eliminate live mascots. College mascots are perhaps the best-treated animals in the world. They are fed well and constantly groomed, and they have continuous human companionship and regular veterinary care. Bevo was almost certainly not startled by the noise or lights as PETA has suggested. I have been around cattle all my life, and I have found that almost all of them just do not like dogs. PETA should also recognize Uga is a bulldog – an animal specifically bred to bite and lock down on the neck of a bull until the bull is subdued. Uga showed zero interest in such behavior, so by PETA’s own standards, they should be happy at least one animal lives a better life than what was originally intended. Changes should be made. A stronger enclosure and never taking off the two-leash halter would be starters.
RORY L. RIEGER, FORT WORTH, TEXAS
A Dawg says put Uga out to pasture
Regarding “Longhorns: Bevo had no beef with Uga” (Sports, Jan. 3), as an alumnus who earned a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, I’m aghast that my school continues to put a dog at risk by forcing Uga to act as a mascot. The energy of a football game is palpable, and it’s what makes going to games such an enjoyable experience – for people. For animals, it’s a cacophony of noise and horns and confusion. It’s little wonder animals are skittish and fearful. UGA must move past old traditions and into a kinder, more ethical future. Costumed human mascots can lead cheers, react to the crowd, and pump up the team — all things that a frightened animal cannot do. Retire Uga permanently.
EMILY TRUNNELL, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
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