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The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) doesn’t currently regulate the unchecked exploitation of animals used by college teams as mascots. Because of this lack of oversight, many animals continue to be used as props for entertainment.
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Posted by BEVO XV on Saturday, September 23, 2023
Since Yale’s Handsome Dan debuted as the first live animal mascot over a century ago, teams have been carting unwilling animals off to games with bright lights, screaming crowds, bands, noisemakers, and unfamiliar environments as if these sentient beings were nothing but props.
The 2024/2025 season has devolved into a circus that included: a tiger forced to appear at an LSU game despite protests from the school, a longhorn steer previously banned for safety concerns admitted back to the sidelines at the Cotton Bowl Classic, and a bearcat named by Binghamton University as a new mascot despite his red-listed status as “vulnerable” by a globally recognized conservation and extinction assessment group.
All animals are unique and interesting individuals who can experience stress, pain, joy, love, and the desire to be free.
Please join PETA in urging the NCAA to ban live animal mascots from college games before the next season begins.