‘Why Be a Bully, Binghamton!’ BU Should Drop Live-Animal Mascot Deal With Roadside Zoo, PETA Says
For Immediate Release:
August 12, 2024
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Today, PETA sent a letter to Binghamton University President Dr. Harvey Stenger urging him to reconsider the decision to use a 5-month-old binturong named Bing—an animal red-listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species and supplied by notorious Harpursville-based roadside zoo Animal Adventure Park—as a mascot for the school’s sports teams.
PETA says the park—which is known for exploiting a now-deceased giraffe named April as a breeding machine and livestreaming the births of her babies before shipping her calves to other sleazy roadside zoos—has racked up scores of federal animal welfare violations. Other universities’ use of animals as living props has resulted in attacks and injuries, and animals suffer every time they’re paraded as props at raucous human events.
“Binturongs are sensitive and, in nature, spend their largely solitary lives high up in trees, yet this exploited animal will be forced into crowded stadiums with bright lights and screaming fans,” says PETA Foundation Senior Director of Captive Animal Welfare Debbie Metzler. “PETA is urging President Stenger to consider Bing’s perspective and continue to use the university’s costumed human mascot to stir up the crowd instead of a suffering animal.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Stenger follows.
August 12, 2024
Harvey G. Stenger, Ph.D.
President
Binghamton University
Dear President Stenger:
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world’s largest animal rights organization, with regard to Binghamton University’s decision to use a binturong, in partnership with Animal Adventure Park, as a mascot for the school. Animal Adventure Park has been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as recently as 2023, for multiple federal Animal Welfare Act violations, including repeatedly failing to provide animals with adequate veterinary care, failing to maintain enclosures in good repair, and endangering the public and animals by allowing unsupervised animal feedings.
Using live animals as mascots is often a recipe for disaster. For example, at the 2019 Sugar Bowl, Bevo, the longhorn steer used by the University of Texas, charged the University of Georgia’s bulldog mascot, Uga, nearly trampling him. You may also remember when an Auburn University football player collided with Mississippi State University’s mascot, a dog called Bully. Animal mascots, ranging from falcons to big cats, have sustained injuries as a result of being used as living props.
Even if animals used as mascots aren’t physically harmed, they’re paraded before raucous crowds, entirely out of their element, and treated as if they were toys rather than sentient beings with interests, personalities, and needs of their own. Binturongs are sensitive animals who live largely in solitude high in the trees of Southeast Asia. Being forced into a stadium full of bright lights, screaming fans, and loud noises is stressful—and can be terrifying—for animals who have no idea what’s going on or why.
Public opinion has turned against using animals for entertainment, and most universities and professional sports teams have switched to energizing fans with costumed human mascots, like your own Baxter the Bearcat. Unlike animals such as binturongs, humans can willingly lead cheers, interact with crowds, and pump up the team.
Given all this information, we hope you’ll reconsider your choice. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
Sincerely,
Kenneth M. Montville
Senior Education Projects Manager
PETA
