Given Punxsutawney Phil's questionable track record of accurately predicting the weather, PETA figures that flipping a coin couldn't be any worse.

Heck, even a coin toss would be right half the time on whether six more weeks of winter are in store, which sure beats the famed groundhog's estimated 40% accuracy rate.

But the animal rights group isn't solely preoccupied with how efficient Punxsutawney Phil is at his job. In a letter sent this week to Tom Dunkel, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s president, PETA expressed concerns that the groundhog is being cruelly exploited for publicity.

If the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle – the group that organizes the Groundhog Day event and cares for Phil – agreed to send the animal to a sanctuary, PETA offered to send the organization "a giant coin" that "could easily replace him as the Pennsylvania town’s gimmick to draw in tourists."

"He is not a meteorologist and deserves better than to be exploited every year for tourism money," PETA said in a statement.

The Groundhog's Club did not immediately respond Wednesday to USA TODAY's request for comment. But on its website it advertises the annual gathering as "a day to take everything a little less seriously, and break up the winter monotony."

Groundhog Day, explained:Can a rodent predict the weather better than a meteorologist can?

Groundhog Day's Punxsutawney Phil often sees his shadow, but isn't always right

Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney may be just some midwinter fun, but data shows that Phil isn't terribly accurate at what he does.

Last year was the third straight year the groundhog has spotted his shadow, something he has done 107 times since his first prediction in 1887. Though he has apparently seen his shadow in 84% of his predictions, Phil has been right only about 39% of the time, according to the Stormfax Weather Almanac.

Phil's predictive skills notwithstanding – the Groundhog Club cheekily claims he has 100% accuracy – the Groundhog Day gathering has become a cornerstone event in Punxsutawney, which has marked the occasion every year since mention of the holiday first appeared in 1886 in the local newspaper, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

Tourists from all over the world make the trek to Gobbler's Knob, where the club's president speaks "groundhogese" to Phil before translating the animal's prediction.

Groundhog Day's origins stem from an ancient European celebration of Candlemas, the midpoint of the astronomical winter. In German lore, a hedgehog was the animal whose predictive power lay in its sight of its shadow, but as settlers came to the U.S. they turned to a more common hibernating animal.

PETA has more previous requests for Groundhog Day's Punxsutawney Phil to be replaced

For years, PETA has launched campaigns to free Punxsutawney Phil.

Last year, the animals rights group offered to send one of its own human volunteers to live in Phil's enclosure and make the prediction for him "with at least as much accuracy." In other years, PETA has advocated that the animal be replaced with a persimmon tree and an animatronic groundhog equipped with artificial intelligence.

Groundhogs are "shy, solitary animals who socialize with other groundhogs only to choose a partner," PETA contended, saying Phil's captivity means he's prevented from swimming, climbing and burrowing – all things groundhogs have evolved to do.

"They don’t want to live in confinement in a local library, where they can’t do anything that’s natural and important to them," PETA said. "They also don’t want to be used to prognosticate the weather or be exposed to flashing cameras, human handling, or noisy crowds."

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

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