1 Million Drowned Calves Prompt ‘Stop Eating Meat’ Ad in St. Louis

Billboard Urges Cow-Eaters to Take Responsibility for Preventable Deaths

For Immediate Release:
April 1, 2019

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

In response to reports that approximately 1 million calves were killed in the flooding across the Midwest—many of whose dead bodies washed up along the riverbanks—PETA is planning to place a billboard in St. Louis featuring a photograph of a cow stranded in deep water alongside the words “Stop Eating Meat! They Die for Your Cruel and Dirty Habit.”

“Every hamburger or steak dinner supports an industry that has repeatedly allowed scores of sensitive animals to suffer and die in natural disasters,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s billboard will challenge passersby to take personal responsibility for the painful deaths of these gentle calves by keeping cows and all other animals off their plates.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is the human-supremacist viewpoint that animals are commodities. The group points out that, had these calves survived the flooding, they would have eventually faced a terrifying trip to the slaughterhouse. There, workers would have shot them in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hung them up by one leg, and cut their throat—likely while they were still conscious and able to feel pain.

In addition to each sparing the lives of nearly 200 animals every year, people who go vegan reduce their risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and numerous other health concerns.

PETA also plans to place the billboard in Kansas City, Missouri as well as Fargo, North Dakota, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. For more information, please visit PETA.org.