PETA petitions Dallas university to stop using pony as a mascot

Look out SMU, PETA's coming for Peruna. The animal group has set its sights on the mascot for Dallas' Southern Methodist University with a campaign to persuade them to end the use of ponies as a mascot.

It's an ambitious goal since Texas dearly loves the tradition of mascots and never has a problem using animals.

SMU has a long tradition of using Shetland ponies for props at SMU Mustangs football games since 1932. A dated YouTube video shows the ritual: Two SMU students, one on either side, "run" the pony across the stadium ahead of the emerging football team, then prod it to rear up twice.

They used to make the pony run across the field after every touchdown, but that stopped in 1996 when SMU participated in the Cotton Bowl and was told by officials that having the horse on the field was not legal. Since that time, the pony — called Peruna, named after a patent medicine that purportedly cured constipation — now appears on the field at the beginning of the game and again between quarters.

In SMU's own words:

"All Perunas (past and present) have been hell to control and stories of antics and misbehavior are legendary. He kicks, he trips up his handlers, and is generally uncooperative."

According to the PETA petition, SMU has "burned through" nine ponies, all of which endured suffering or else met tragic ends. One was hit by a car and killed. Another died of blood poisoning. Another died of a jaw infection. Peruna V survived a kidnapping attempt. Peruna VII broke his leg but was still forced to run for years until the swelling became so unmanageable that he was retired and his liver failed.

This is an intriguing tidbit on SMU's website: Until 1993, the mascot was stabled on the 500-acre Culwell Ranch in Grapevine. Since then, the stabling location is kept a secret. Where are they hiding Peruna? In a student's dorm room?

Despite the fact that ponies get stressed by loud noises, the school continues to haul its current Peruna around to sporting events, some involving long-distance travel. As PETA notes, ponies are prey animals who prefer to be in peaceful environments around their own kind and are naturally uncomfortable with bright lights, screaming crowds, and marching bands. Unfamiliar environments cause stress and fear.

Animal mascots have been in the news, most recently at the Peach Bowl game when the University of Texas was forbidden to bring its longhorn mascot to a game on New Year’s Day because there wasn't enough room for the creature on the sidelines.

PETA also tried to prevent UT from bringing the steer to the Cotton Bowl game on January 11 — which you will recall was in the freezing aftermath of winter storm Cora — but UT was ultimately given permission.

In 2018, the steer charged at another mascot, a dog, at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and nearly trampled the dog, which the moronic sportscaster called "awesome."