PETA calls for UGA to retire ‘breathing-impaired’ mascot, all use of live mascots

ATHENS, GA (FOX Carolina) - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) called for the University of Georgia (UGA) to retire its English bulldog mascot “Uga” following the team’s national championship win.

PETA sent a letter to UGA president Jere W. Morehead urging him to make the school a winner not only in football but also in its treatment of others by retiring the school’s English bulldog mascot, Uga.

The group mentioned that the school’s use of Uga drives demand for breathing-impaired breeds (BIB), such as pugs, boxers, and English and French bulldogs, whose breeding is being banned in other countries, as their purposely bred, flattened faces leave them struggling to walk, play, and even breathe.

PETA’s motto is, “animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way”.

“As the back-to-back national champion, can’t UGA find it in its heart to honestly examine the impact of its promotion of deformed dogs and call time on its outdated, live-animal mascot program?” asks PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Jere Morehead to be a peach and replace poor Uga with a human mascot who can support the team in a winning way.”

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