Following Spirit's eventful flight Saturday, representatives for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are speaking out against Auburn University.The traditional pregame flight went awry when Spirit, the university's bald eagle, flew into a luxury box window in Jordan-Hare Stadium and skimmed the crowd before landing at center field.
Lindsay Pollard-Post wrote a letter to the editor of the Montgomery Advertiser condemning the school for dragging the eagle into a stressful environment.
"Animals aren't performers or party decorations, and they don't deserve to be frightened, hurt or even killed just so we can have a momentary thrill," Pollard-Post wrote in the letter.
She then said the school should retire the birds to sanctuaries.
Pollard-Post calls the eagle a mascot, but Auburn fans know the birds are representative of a battle cry. Aubie the tiger is the school's mascot.
The university's College of Veterinary Medicine's Southeastern Raptor Center works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to promote wildlife conservation and education. According to the SRC's website, the USF&WS allows the center to house eagles and use them in educational presentations, including Auburn home football games.
Spirit is one of three flighted eagles housed at the SRC. He is the only bald eagle ever to be flown in Jordan-Hare Stadium, as Tiger and Nova, the other two eagles, are golden eagles.
Spirit was found injured in Florida in 1995 and was brought to Auburn in 1998. Spirit made his first flight in Jordan-Hare in 2001. He is not releasable because of his damaged beak.
Auburn's eagles aren't the only live animals used at college sporting events. The University of Georgia has Uga, a bulldog; the University of Tennessee has Smokey, a bluetick coonhound; Louisiana State University has Mike, a half Bengal-half Siberian tiger; and the University of Texas has Bevo, a longhorn steer.
Recently, Sports Illustrated named Auburn's pregame eagle flights the second-best tradition in college football.
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