‘Face It!’ PETA’s Media Blitz Tells a Tale on Cheese Trail, Conveying That Cows Suffer for Dairy
For Immediate Release:
June 10, 2024
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
PETA is telling the dairy industry to take a hike over its declaration of June as National Dairy Month with an array of sky-high messages along the Pennsylvania Cheese Guild cheese trail—including in Latrobe and Allison Park—giving patrons and purveyors food for thought about the suffering behind every wheel of brie or cut of Camembert and reminding everyone that vegan cheeses are a big step up.
“Every animal is someone—not something—yet mother cows’ beloved calves are taken from them and their bodies are repeatedly ravaged, simply so humans can eat dairy cheese,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “The cheese trail is a path of pain, and PETA is pointing out not only its cruelty but also how easy it is to choose creamy vegan cheeses that leave cows in peace.”
It’s standard practice in the dairy industry—even on small farms—to tear calves away from their mothers, often within a day of birth, so that the milk meant to nourish them can be sold as cheese, yogurt, and creamer. Cows exploited for dairy with misleading “humane” labels are also often subjected to the same cruel practices typical of the commercial dairy industry. PETA’s investigations have found dairy workers electroshocking cows in the face, hitting them with poles, and otherwise abusing them. Once the mother cows’ bodies wear out from repeated pregnancies, they’re prodded down the ramp to slaughter.
PETA’s billboards are located at 3537 U.S. Route 30 (near The Creamery at Pleasant Lane Farms) in Latrobe and 3610 William Flinn Hwy. (near Goat Rodeo Farm & Dairy) in Allison Park. The group also has ads on Interstate 81 in Carlisle and at 3495 U.S. Hwy. 1 (near Cherry Grove Farm, a stop on the cheese trail) in Princeton, New Jersey.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. The group also offers a free vegan starter kit. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
