After an incident involving animal mascots at the Sugar Bowl, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) issued a statement calling for and end to schools using live animal mascots.
On Tuesday night, prior to the Texas Longhorns taking on the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl, the Texas longhorn steer lunged at the Georgia bulldog. PETA subsequently issued a statement calling the “frightening near-tragedy another example of the reason most colleges and professional sports teams retired their live-animal mascots decades ago—and the handful who haven’t yet should quickly follow suit.
“If your favorite team is still forcing live animals to serve as mascots,” PETA continued, “please send a polite e-mail to its fundraising or community-outreach committee urging it to use willing human participants instead.”