back to article Replace Bulldog gridiron mascot with robot, PETA demands

Animal-rights protesters in Georgia, America have asked a local football* team - the "Georgia Bulldogs" - to replace their recently-deceased bulldog mascot with a robot. The protesters say that far from being tough, bulldogs are actually weakly genetic freaks and shouldn't be allowed to breed. WGAU Local News reports on the …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Really need a title?

    "*This is we-shall-mostly-be-bonking-into-each-other-and-grunting American-style football"

    You mean "American Pansy Ball" - there fixed it for you. Now everyone will understand what you mean ;)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They're kidding.

    PETA, the people who kill animals and store their bodies in a big freezer. The mascot should be sent out to bite them firmly around the ankles.

    1. James O'Shea

      Not the ankles. Somewhere higher up

      And ol' Uga should get a nice doggy treat if he bites it clean off.

  3. lglethal Silver badge
    FAIL

    Hypocrisy much?

    There's an animal population crisis (apparently), yet PETA object to the killing and eating of every other animal on the planet? Can you say Hypocrisy?

    1. Phillipa Morrise

      Hmm.

      Well less animals would be bred right? They aren't going out and hunting cows you know.

  4. James O'Shea
    Dead Vulture

    Sic 'em, Uga

    Unfortunately the dogs used as the UGA's mascots (named Uga I, II, etc, the latest and now deceased one being VII) are mostly too well-behaved (unlike the University of Texas' longhorn steer mascots, several of which have demonstrated that Very Large Cattle with Very Big Horns are not the safest of things to have around, see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevo_(mascot)> and note that UT Austin originally had a bulldog mascot, too...) to properly deal with PETA. May I suggest that Uga VIII be trained to be somewhat more aggressive and to bite the nearest PETA moron and _not let go_?

    May I also suggest that schools which currently use students in fursuits for their mascots (you know, Bears, Cougars, Lions, Tigers, Wildcats, Huskies, Wolves, etc) get The Real Thing and hold them in readiness for PETA attacks... and then counter-attack. North Carolina State, for example, is the Wolfpack; get 'em, State!

    Tombstone 'cause there's no 'devoured by wolves' or 'stamped flat by enraged cattle' icon.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Life imitates art

    Sounds like the South Park episode where the school team is forced to change its name. Don't the douchbags at PETA have anything better to do other than killing Pitbulls and making veggies like myself cringe.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sounds like a plum gig for K-9

    after all, he's not exactly been rushed off his tracks these last few years

  7. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    For their next mascot...

    ...how about a guy dressed up as a giant T-bone steak with a fork sticking out of it?

    That'll show those losers at PETA.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Won't somebody think of the children..

    I propose that we stop breeding PETA members, they're obviously genetically inferior specimens and as such the trait should be eradicated for the genome. Neutering the living members (fnarr) seems like the kindest thing to do but I wouldn't be averse to a cull in the time honoured tradition of field sports..

    Tally ho...

  10. Neil Stansbury
    Stop

    Perhaps the DNA conveys ignorance and as well...

    ..judging from the first two comments from the Daily Mail retardership:

    "Well if we were invaded by anyone now we'd just think it was another wave of immigration."

    - Marting, Reading England, 03/1/2008 13:55

    "When this Government has completed it's immigration policy we will all be several shades darker and a lot more timid."

    - Donald, Bulkeley, Cheshire., 03/1/2008 13:51

    I wonder if Donald knows that Cheshire was originally an Anglo Saxon settlement - or perhaps the Germanic immigration policy was an acceptable one because of it aggression?

    Honestly, reading the Daily Mail really should just be used as a "means test".

  11. Will Shaw
    WTF?

    Dribbling....

    This would be the same organisation that wanted the "Pet Shop Boys" to change their name to the "Animal Rescue Centre Boys".

    Object lesson in what happens when a seemingly reasonable philosophy is enacted by drivelling loons.

  12. JetSetJim
    WTF?

    Eugenics, anyone?

    Vegans are congenitally weak - no more should be bred and they should be replaced with cardboard cutouts of soy beans

  13. Connor

    PETA

    "bulldogs are actually weakly genetic freaks and shouldn't be allowed to breed."

    The same could be said for animal rights activists too.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    flawed logic

    PETA want animals to be treated more ethically? Great, in principle I agree. But they also think these animals shouldn't be allowed to reproduce if they are somewhat genetically inferior? There are some ethical problems here, for example who decides what is 'genecally inferior'? IIRC some nasty in the 1930s and 40s had a similar idea but eventually he was discredited...

    I assume this isn't just about a single bulldog, it is for propaganda. PETA want the University to replace a live animal with a robot so that regular people will follow suit, putting more and more animals out of a home and driving the breeders out of business (or at least . And many of these will end up where? Dog shelters, waiting to be euthanized.

    What about the future? Won't there be a robot over-population crisis?? Isn't this just asking for SkyNet???

    Can we have a tin-foil hat icon please?

    1. Adam Salisbury
      Boffin

      Crufts

      In the UK the Kennel Club dictates breeding standards, they also run Crufts (the dog show), said dog show was not aired on the BCC last year (as it has normally been) after research has proven many characteristics of pedigree dogs, while aesthetically advantageous are actually terrible deformities and mutations. Dog breeding in some quarters is akin to eugenics, dogs are bred which suffer chronic overheating, respitory illness and breathing defects, epilepsy to name a few and all becuase they look good.

      While PETA constantly show the world how-not-to-be-a-hypocritical-activist their point, on this occasion is a valid one. The school should take the opportunity to change mascot at least to an animal which isn't a enfeebled, inbred, genetic freak.

    2. markx

      Eugenics

      @flawedlogic, actually you have it backwards. These animals are genetically inferior because of the way they have been bred by humans over the decades. The ethical issues are with those who breed animals like this that have all kinds of health problems for their own selfish ends.

  15. Rab Sssss
    Flame

    this from teh same bunch..

    " causing another dog waiting in an animal shelter to be condemned to death" should that not read "as we can't kill them all before they get to a shelter while liing about rehoming the dog in question!!!!!"

    "Save a dog today, shoot a PETA mbr now!!!!!!!!!"

  16. richard 69
    Thumb Up

    but they are correct

    lots of dogs are bred for a certain 'look' causing them hardship throughout their lives. some comments on here are retarded, bringing vegetarians into it is pathetic.

    as the owner of rescued greyhounds and a vegetarian girlfriend, i can say that they all need looking after. and peta is a superb page 3 girl with marvellous attributes....

  17. Dave Gregory
    FAIL

    If we just ignore them...

    ...will the granola wingnut twunts of PETA go away?

    It's probably wild optimism, but hope springs eternal.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'd be having a word with these breeders

    going through two dogs in only a few years, I'd want my money back.

    The bulldog should have a lifespan of about 8 years not four!

    Too many doggie treats and not enough walkies or have the suppliers been inbreeding too much.

    perhaps a comprimise is in order - the team get a bulldog that's less inbred and set up an exercise program for it as an example to others as to how to look after animals.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    PETA

    People Engaging in Terrorism for Animals.

    They are all idiots TBFH.

  20. jake Silver badge

    Somewhat strangely ...

    As a long-time dog owner/breeder (Whippets, Greyhounds and occasionally the odd gundog), in this one example, I hate to admit it, but I agree with PETA.

    Bulldogs ARE genetic freaks, and quite frankly the people who continue to breed them are (in my mind) not really dog lovers. I mean, seriously, why perpetuate a breed that frequently needs a C-section to give birth? And don't get me into so-called "conformationally correct" bulldogs ... there is absolutely NOTHING conformational about 'em!

    To absolve myself for agreeing with PETA, I'm off to have a pre-turkey bacon sarnie ...

  21. Rob
    FAIL

    Technically speaking

    Doesn't that make all breeds of Dogs genetic freaks as they are supposed to be cross bred from the original wolf in the siberian region (I may be wrong I'm pulling on memories of a nature program from awhile back).

    Those dissing Bulldogs seem to have a lot of incorrect information, my uncle and aunt who bred, competed and even judged (their bulldogs, before someone misinterprets that lastbit) at crufts never encountered half the issues you lot are talking about.

    PETA, bless'im, they really don't operate in the normal realms of reality do they.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Don't they have anything better to do?

    Well, no, they don't have anything better to do, they're PETA.

    Reading the article was rather annoying because unusually for the traditionally severely reality-imparied PETA, this made reasonable breeding-technical sense. The snag to rain on the PETA parade is that mascot is but a symbol, and bashing on that for being factually incorrect really is, well, also annoying, because that is so much not the point of a mascot. But of course, without the holier-than-thou tone it wouldn't be a proper PETA action.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    @American Pansy Ball

    Yeah, the ones who run about in Alice bands. Oh, wait, hang on...

  24. Richard IV
    Pint

    Am I the only one...?

    ... who wanted to swap PETA activists and bulldogs in the first paragraph of the article?

    Anyhoo, for the only time (so far) in my life I not only agree with them but would extend the principle to pretty much all "pure" dog breeds. Except in Norfolk, breeding amongst close relatives has never been considered a good idea. Generally dog breeds were bred for specific purposes, and the bulldog's (fighting bulls) has been somewhat defunct for a good century and a half. I still can't get over the thought of poodles as hunting dogs though, those Frenchies *sheesh*!

    A prize to the breeder of the first bullshitdog.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Fecking morons!

    You don't see members of the RSPCA stripping naked and covering themselves with offal to get attention, no they train to be animal welfare officers for months, then get off their backsides, go out and actually make a difference to animal welfare!

    I'm a veggie on principle and and support animal rights, but fecking stupid, mindless organisations like PETA make be fecking sick to the back teeth! PETA only care about drawing attention to themseleves not their cause, ultimate upshot of which is to make people sick to death of them and sadly people start refusing to listen to anyone who actually wants to make a genuine difference to animal welfare!

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bull Dogs......

    As a dog lover, I have to say the assertion that Bull Dogs are a bit of a genetic dead end is entirely reasonable (and this comes from me who has met some Bull Dogs who were absolutely delightful for no other reason than they happen to be dogs above all else)..... Seriously; give those that remain to loving human families and give them the great lives they deserve but do not breed them into offspring who suffer lives of ill health and suffering that no dog deserves.....

  27. No, I will not fix your computer
    FAIL

    It's too easy.... don't do it!

    >>bulldogs are actually weakly genetic freaks and shouldn't be allowed to breed.

    Bulldog is their mascot? hmmm... hold back... don't say it...

    More seriously @jake

    While you agree with PETA, you still breed Whippets and Greyhounds? heart problems, often discarded after their working career ends, you're not too far divorced from a bulldog breeder, some dogs are bred for what they look like and some are bred for what they can do, don't think you're any better just because they have a practical rather than aesthetic application.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    A better suggestion

    How about we find the earliest, most "pure" strain of dog (say a wolf) and use modern knowledge of the canine genome and genetically engineer the ideal dog? I mean Dogs are incredibly complex things but we've got thousands of years of controlled evolution to pattern our works against and millions of owners who'd (probably) be willing to have a dog that lived longer and wasn't as much of a pain to own (as I'd imagine constantly ill dogs are) than their "natural" counterparts.

    And by the sounds of it we can hardly do worse than what nature (under the limited guide of man's hand) has managed.

    @AC 1547

    IIRC Eugenics wasn't disproved; it works quite nicely if you get rid of any ethical concerns (you know, like that holocaust thing)- in fact Dogs are an (admittedly crude) example of this.

    Eugenics performed on a sufficiently large group of willing participants and with elimination of "undesirable" attributes carried out by expulsion from the group or voluntary sterilisation rather than death would actually work quite nicely- especially if that group had looser regulations on the use of cloned of genetically modified materials than we do in the UK today. The key to it is to have a set target point that you can devote all of your efforts towards.

    Also, I wholeheartedly support the cessation of breeding rights for PETA members and vegetarians-of-conscience. I'd imagine their bleeding hearts are a serious genetic problem!

  29. David Sidebotham
    Jobs Horns

    "genetic freaks and shouldn't be allowed to breed...."

    ... and then let them play American football.

    Note this is American football and not to be confused with football which the Americans call soccer. Now soccer is what they play in Liverpool on a Saturday night when they tumble out of the pubs and before they all go to the hospital; usually after a game of "are you looking at me?"

  30. jake Silver badge

    @No, I will not fix your computer &Poodles

    "While you agree with PETA,"

    Let's make certain this is clarified ... Yes, I agree with PETA, but in this example, and this example only. The current breed known as "English Bulldog" or "British Bulldog" are an unfortunate example of the "art" of dog breeding. Near as I can tell, the breeders don't care about the overall health of the dogs, but rather care about appearance over all ... As another poster commented, in my opinion they should all be spayed and neutered and allowed to live out their genetically determined short lives as happily as possible. Note that I actually LIKE the English Bulldog's personality, it's just that they are a genetic disaster as a breed.

    "you still breed Whippets and Greyhounds?"

    Yep. My own lines for about a third of a century. If you include my parents getting me into it as a baby, for about half a century. If you include the kennel they inherited from my Grandparents, nearly a century.

    "heart problems"

    Not here. I had one litter sired from a dog in Oregon, after 14 months all 8 were doing well in the show ring (including a couple BIS). Then I discovered that three other litters sired from the same dog, different lines for the bitches, had dogs develop heart murmurs at around age three. I payed the owners to spay and neuter the entire litter, and gave them their entire purchase price back, plus a promise for a pet-quality price on their next potential conformation pup from my kennel. Ethical breeders do that kind of thing. We even write it into the contract. All of the owners kept their pups as pets, although I would have happily taken them back. Most of my pups developed murmurs at around age three, none were ever bred. Problem averted.

    "often discarded after their working career ends"

    Again, not here. All my oldsters live out their lives as family pets. It's an ethics thing.

    "you're not too far divorced from a bulldog breeder, some dogs are bred for what they look like and some are bred for what they can do, don't think you're any better just because they have a practical rather than aesthetic application."

    Whatever. If you say so. My dogs live long, happy, healthy, useful lives, mostly in the great outdoors[1], although I have six curled up in my office as I type. I just peered in on the Wife, and she has another three curled up with her. The rest are in their crates in the converted, doorless walk-in closet in our bedroom, waiting for me to close their doors[2]. This is typical of most Whippets & Greyhounds here in California.

    British Bulldogs? Not so much. Because of intentionally bad breeding, they can't display the proper traits of Canis Lupus Familiaris in the RealWorld[tm]. Other dogs, for the most part, try to ignore them. Even their own breed. Nor do they live long, happy, healthy lives. And that is sad, because mentally they are still canines. Poor things.

    And to the person who commented on Poodles ... In the past, when I still hunted, I have taken a LOT of goose, duck and pheasant over Standard Poodles. They are still hunting dogs, despite what most owners think. My remaining Standard still gets mad at me when I don't get out the shotgun when the geese are making use of our ponds during their migration!

    [1] They are all house pets, and have free run of the house during the day, but their doggy-door opens into about a ten acre yard with ten feet of no-climb ... and all are allowed to hunt ground-squirrels with me on an individual basis a couple times a week, although I have a couple pairs of litter-mates who work well as a brace when coursing jack-rabbit.

    [2] Yes, all my dogs are crate trained from puppy-hood. If I have to have an ACL rebuilt after a running injury, there is no way that I want to have to convince the dog into staying calm in a crate that s/he hates. It's also helpful when we are on the road, in that all the dogs have their own Den wherever we are ... All of them nap in their own crate during the day, door open, when they want a little down time. I usually close the doors around 1AM, the Wife lets 'em out again around 6AM ... If I leave the doors open and get into bed, my Alpha Velcro Dawg & the Alpha Bitch come and nose-nose-nose me as a reminder :-)

  31. Mr Brush
    Stop

    FFS!

    It's not Foot -> Ball.

    If anything, it's Hand -> Egg.

  32. Allan George Dyer
    Badgers

    Ethics of psychological cruelty...

    The dogs shouldn't be ALLOWED to breed? Isn't that a bit unfair. Wouldn't it be more ethical to allow them free choice in their breeding (well, at least with other consenting members of the same species - not the coach's leg)? And if they had free choice, wouldn't that sort out the issue of them being genetic freaks (in a few generations)?

  33. Charles 9

    @Richard IV

    By Norfolk, do you refer to Norfolk, England, or Norfolk, Virginia, USA (the international HQ of PETA--I know, I'm not too far away from it)?

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Off topic sports comment...

    Having played both Rugby and North American football I can attest that both these are great contact sports and that both require a great deal of physical fitness/strength to play well.

    Rugby does require a higher level of stamina due to fewer stoppages of play than North American football, but something that I think that most Europeans don't understand is that although North American football players wear a lot of protective equipment this equipment is also like wearing weaponry.

    The helmet and and shoulder pads change the way that one tackles. There is also the difference in rules, such as blocking.

    1. skeptical i
      Grenade

      more protective gear -> more risk- taking -> more injury

      Radio article indicated that the number of retired players with serious brain issues is much higher among former American football players than among former rugby players, the hypothesis being that rugby players with no armor will be more careful in who and how they tackle their opponents while American football players are lulled into a false sense of invincibility by their armor and might not be as careful (resulting in more concussions and other injuries with long-term effects). I'll leave it for the sports fan- addicts to argue this one out.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Buldog may be the most...

    obvious dog breed that suffers from being overly bred for a specific look, but many others also have a huge variety of problems from this practice. Even the majestic German Shepard/Alsatian is bred, in North America at least, to have in my consideration an oddly/unnatural bend in hind legs. This gives it a specific look when in its show stance and gate around the ring, but it sure doesn't look natural or comfortable when you see these dogs outside running.

    Most breeders, I believe, love dogs and start with the breeds best interest at heart. I think many go down the wrong path through lack of knowledge or just get caught up in the enthusiasm of other dog people over time. Not really an excuse for breeding unhealthy traits into dogs and now that so many no better, hopefully, we will see this change.

  36. Jacqui

    GSD show dogs running?

    Have you seen the GSD's in a UK dog show?

    Last years champions at crufts had to be helped (one was carried once out of sight of the cameras) out of the ring - they could hardly walk never mind run!

    IMHO Show breeders are responsible for the need to hip-score so many breeds for well over 20 years and are still at it - they breed son to mother to "strengthen lines" and end up introducing genetic abnormalities.

    Thankfully our GSD's were german imports and "Working stock". - Where "working stock" is used to mean never been near a "deformed mutant" as Mark Evans RSCPA top vet calls show dogs...

    And the IT angle? I offered to write a database program for The Kennel Club (free) that unlike thier then MS_Access based system would report when impossible litters were being registered (how can the same mother have two litters a month apart and at different ends of the country when she is still in quarrantine?) and would detect puppy farm breeders by volume and breed rates - no dog should bred more than once every two years.

    They declined and said they were sticking with access...

    FYI most common sense bredder policies are very very easy to detect/report once you have an accurate breed register.

    Finally requiring breeders to supply dna via a vet would help with the many many bredders who falsify sire and dam when registering pups... The KC is part funding astudy taking DNA from BAGSD members dogs to try and trace a (large) number of serious "genetic" problems in UK GSDs.

    Now the good news...

    The KC missed thier chance and there is a publically accessible breed register - NOT affilliated with them.

    I helped someone pick a GSD recently and a breeder who was not registered with the KC breeders list was the only decent one we found. So my advice - if a breeder is "recommended" by the KC avoid them as they probably breed mutants or worse...

  37. Paul RND*1000
    FAIL

    Just. Go. Away. PETA. Please?

    Really, I wish these idiots would just bugger off and leave the protection of animals to those who actually *do* constructive, reasonable work in that area.

    All PETA are good for is generating self-publicity, most of which does more harm than good by strengthening the "animal rights people are all deranged and should not be taken seriously" stereotype.

  38. rciafardone
    FAIL

    So let me get this straight...

    PETA, a animal loving organization is giving extintion of a whole breed as the best way to treat their situation? That situation, oh horrors of horrors, is being treated like spoiled brats by their "slave masters". Have you seen how the average owner of one of this ugly things treat them? I dont treat my 2 year old with so much liansy...

  39. Mr Mark V Thomas
    Terminator

    Robotic Mascot...?

    Coming soon, (if PETA have their way) Preston the Cybermutt for UGA Mascot...?

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