Breastfeeding Controversy Prompts ‘Breast Is Best’ Billboard Proposal

PETA Wants to Run ‘Dump Dairy’ Ad Near Local Pool That Kicked Out Nursing Mother

For Immediate Release:
June 13, 2019

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

In the wake of police being called on a mother breastfeeding her baby at the Nessler Park Family Aquatic Center, PETA is moving to place its pro-breastfeeding billboard near the pool in support of all nursing mothers. The ad shows an image of Mary breastfeeding the baby Jesus alongside the words “If It Was Good Enough for Jesus … The Breast Is Best. Dump Dairy.“

“No mothers should be denied the opportunity to nurse their babies, and that includes the mother cows whose calves are taken away from them so that some humans can put dairy cheese on pizza,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s ad would encourage anyone disturbed by the shaming of those breastfeeding their babies to stand up for all mothers and kick the cow’s milk to the curb.”

Humans are the only animals who drink the milk of another species and consume breastmilk beyond the age of weaning. The harassment of nursing mothers is nothing new in the dairy industry, in which cows are repeatedly and forcibly inseminated on a device that the industry itself has called a “rape rack.” Their beloved babies are taken away from them shortly after birth so that humans can make dairy cheese pizzas and drink the milk that was meant for the calves. Mother cows have been heard calling for their stolen babies for days after they’ve been separated. Male calves are often shipped off to be slaughtered for veal, and females grow up to face the same fate as their mothers: Their bodies are exploited for their ability to reproduce, and they’re used as milk-producing machines for their entire lives.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. The group offers free vegan starter kits, which are full of delicious dairy-free recipes, on its website. For more information, please visit PETA.org.