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College sports games are a blast for students, but we choose to expose ourselves to the bright lights, screaming crowds, and blaring bands. Now imagine being forced into this chaos when you have no clue what’s going on. 😰 This is the traumatizing reality of being a live animal mascot on campuses like yours.
Rn, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) doesn’t regulate the unchecked exploitation of animals used by college teams as mascots. Because of this, many animals suffer from the fear and confusion of being used at stressful sports games. 😠
The 2024/2025 season has been a hot mess of animal exploitation that’s included: a tiger forced to appear at an LSU game against students’ wishes; a longhorn steer previously banned for safety concerns being forced back onto the sidelines at the Cotton Bowl Classic; and a bearcat named by Binghamton University as a new mascot even though he’s listed as “vulnerable” by a 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. There are exactly zero reasons to exploit them at our schools—it’s beyond time to switch to costumed human mascots who can lead cheers, pump up the team, and are there by choice.
Please help us urge the NCAA to ban live animal mascots from college games before the next season kicks off!