The top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs eviscerated the third-ranked TCU Horned Frogs on Monday night by a final score of 65-7 for their second-straight national championship. Not only was it the biggest margin of victory in a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) or College Football Playoff (CFP) title game, it was also the widest margin in any bowl game ever played, and the most points an Associated Press (AP) top-three team has ever lost by.
But just days after Georgia’s historic dominance, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are already griping about the Bulldog’s mascot, Uga X, a live bulldog that roams the Georgia sideline at most football games. This isn’t the first time PETA has criticized UGA for its long-standing tradition. In 2019, they showed a video the dog in his dog house and said he looked upset.
HE LOOKS MISERABLE!
— PETA (@peta) November 25, 2019
No dog deserves to be packed up, carted from state to state, and paraded in front of a stadium full of screaming fans.
Animals are NOT mascots 👎 @UGAAthletics must retire Uga immediately! He should be at home with a loving family.pic.twitter.com/XBdIjRMLGW
Mind you, bulldogs routinely look like a toddler who’s just been told he couldn’t have ice cream, so there’s nothing special about this clip. But I digress.
This year, PETA is calling for Georgia to put an end to this apparently inhumane tradition for the sake of bulldogs everywhere.
“PETA … notes that Uga is a living, feeling being, not a toy to be carted to chaotic football stadiums across the country and trotted out in front of scores of screaming fans,” PETA said.
PETA is also claiming that Georgia’s use of Uga influences people to buy breathing-impaired breeds (BIBs) of dogs (pugs, boxers, bulldogs), who, as the acronym suggests, have a hard time breathing. PETA somehow finds this to be a bad thing.
“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can’t UGA find it in its heart to honestly examine the impact of its promotion of deformed dogs and call time on its outdated, live-animal mascot program?,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said. “PETA is calling on (University of Georgia president) Jere Morehead to be a peach and replace poor Uga with a human mascot who can support the team in a winning way.”
Points for the clever word play, but more points taken away for a nonsensical argument.
Uga X is currently owned and taken care of by the Seiler family of Savanna, GA. Uga X is the 10th dog in a line of mascots dating back to 1956, when the first bulldog roamed the sidelines of Sanford Stadium. Any dog that is tasked with being Georgia’s mascot is treated like royalty by a family that cuts no corners in ensuring the finest care for one of college football’s most iconic mascots.
“He’s got a car that has to be cleaned. I’m always taking care of his shirts, packing him, cleaning him,” Charles Seiler, who carries on the tradition started by parents, said. “I’ve done it all my life. I don’t know any other way.”
I can’t think of the last time I heard of a dog that had its own car, or who is doted on as much as Uga. Inhumane treatment? I don’t think so.
As for the supposed increase in dog sales, only one of the breeds PETA mentioned - the French bulldog - was in the top 10 most popular dog breeds in 2022. French bulldogs are popular in America anyway and there’s no way to prove that Uga’s so-called “marketing” assistance boosts those numbers.
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said that PETA’s futile pleas will not change anything.
“We are proud of our beloved mascot and grateful for the excellent care provided by Uga’s devoted owners, the Seiler family,” Brooks said.
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