BU Unblocks Criticism of Live-Animal Mascot Use After Cease and Desist From PETA

For Immediate Release:
October 29, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Binghamton, N.Y. –

Following a cease and desist demand from PETA Foundation lawyers, Binghamton University has stopped deleting comments and blocking users on Facebook for criticizing its decision to use Bing, a 6-month-old binturong, as a mascot at school events. The letter—which was sent in September on behalf of PETA and Evan Oakley, whose comments criticizing the move were blocked—pointed out that such censorship amounts to a violation of free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Over the prior month, comments were deleted from PETA supporters and others who expressed concern for the welfare of the binturong—an animal red-listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. In addition, Oakley appeared to have been blocked from even viewing the page in response to his comments highlighting the distress caused by forcing the naturally solitary animal into public encounters with rowdy crowds on campus. The letter pointed out that because the publicly funded institution’s Facebook page constitutes a public forum, censoring such posts amounted to unconstitutional viewpoint-based discrimination.

Binturongs are highly sensitive animals and can become anxious when forced into unnatural, chaotic environments. As seen in this screenshot from a news broadcast, Bing urinated—often a sign of distress—on a table when he was treated as a prop during a Binghamton University news conference this year.

“Binghamton University made an unconstitutional attempt to silence its critics, who recognize that wild animals should be respected, not exploited,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Asher Smith. “PETA celebrates this victory for First Amendment rights and urges the university to use only its costumed human mascot to rev up the crowd instead of a suffering animal.”

PETA points out that binturongs are sensitive animals who usually enjoy solitude outside the mother-infant social group. These primarily nocturnal animals spend most of their daytime hours sleeping in treetops in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia—their natural habitat.

Bing is supplied to the university by notorious Harpursville-based roadside zoo Animal Adventure Park—which is known for exploiting a now-deceased giraffe named April as a breeding machine and livestreaming the births of her babies before tearing away her calves and shipping them to other sleazy roadside zoos. The facility has racked up a slew of 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.

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.