PETA urges MLB to change bullpen to more animal-friendly term

This one probably won’t catch on.

The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) caused a stir online Thursday for suggesting the baseball term “bullpen” was offensive to animals.

PETA, which has a reputation for starting online discussions regarding animal safety, tweeted that “bullpen” â€" where pitchers warm up â€" should be changed to the more animal-friendly “arm barn.”

“‘Bullpen’ refers to the area of a ‘bull’s pen’ where bulls are held before they are slaughtered â€" it’s a word with speciesist roots and we can do better than that,” reads the tweet that was largely mocked online with nearly 7,000 replies and only 400 likes as of 6 p.m.

The name on PETA’s Twitter account now reads “Arm Barn.”

Tracy Reiman, PETA’s executive vice president, said in a news release that “bullpens devalue talented players and mock the misery of sensitive animals.”

“PETA encourages Major League Baseball coaches, announcers, players, and fans to changeup their language and embrace the ‘arm barn’ instead,” Reiman said. 

The animal rights group has previously called for sports programs to ban live animal mascots and called on Cleveland to add a vegan option to its hot dog race during games at Progressive Field. 

However, PETA did not take public stances on baseball terms “ducks on the pond,” “gopher ball” or “worm burner.” At least, not yet. 

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