Peta urges Crystal Palace to retire bald eagle mascot
Peta has called on Crystal Palace to stop using Phoenix, the club's bald eagle mascot, with immediate effect.
The animal rights group wrote to Palace CEO Sharon Lacey demanding the club commit to “never using a live animal mascot again”.
“Bald eagles are revered as symbols of freedom, yet Phoenix is being used as little more than a prop to entertain football fans,” said Peta's Dr Carys Bennett.
"Crystal Palace already has a human mascot to energise supporters, so there's no reason to drag a wild animal into a noisy, crowded stadium.
“Peta is urging the club to let Phoenix spread his wings and retire him from matchday duties for good.”
Peta says that “reclusive eagles deserve better than a stressful, booming stadium environment” where “bright lights, loud noises, and boisterous crowds can cause birds to become frightened, disoriented and panicked”.
The letter pointed to other incidents involving live birds at football, including “an owl who died after being hit by a ball, eagles who crashed into walls or glass windows, and a falcon who landed on a fan’s head, sinking his talons into the man’s scalp”.
“In another case,” Peta continued, “a rowdy football supporter punched a rival team’s eagle mascot”.
That incident is believed to relate to a fan attacking Kayla, Palace's previous eagle mascot, at a League Cup match against south London rivals Charlton in September 2015, a fixture marred by crowd trouble.
Kayla regularly appeared before matches at Selhurst Park and flew the length of the pitch.
Peta’s request comes as pressure builds on Palace manager Pierre Sage following a difficult start to the season. Palace have taken seven points from their opening seven games and were thrashed 5-0 by local rivals Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Sunday.
Diego Gomez scored the pick of the goals as he found the net from the halfway line on an embarrassing afternoon for the Eagles.
Palace will aim to bounce back from that loss when they travel to Besiktas in the Europa League on Thursday.
