‘Would You Eat Your Dog?’ Asks PETA’s Thanksgiving-Themed Billboard Coming to London

Ad Promotes Empathy for Turkeys and Touts Vegan Holiday Feasts

For Immediate Release:
September 29, 2014

Contact:
Alexis Sadoti 202-483-7382

How would London families feel if Fido were stuffed and roasted for Thanksgiving? That’s what PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—is asking this holiday season with a billboard that shows a dog’s collar on a gravy-soaked dinner plate and reads, “If You Wouldn’t Eat Your Dog, Why Eat a Turkey? Go Vegan.” The group plans to run the billboard in London in advance of Thanksgiving in the hope that it will inspire families to consider what—or whom—they’ll choose to put on their holiday plates.

“Every year, more and more people, recognizing that turkeys feel pain and fear, just as dogs and cats do, choose to leave the dead bird off the Thanksgiving table,” says PETA Director of Campaigns Sarah King. “PETA’s holiday billboard encourages families to give everyone something to be thankful for by choosing  humane and delicious vegan fare.”

Last year, Canadians ate 8.4 million whole turkeys—2.9 million were purchased for Thanksgiving alone. In nature, turkeys are protective and loving parents as well as spirited explorers who can climb trees and run as fast as 40 kilometres per hour. Turkeys in the wild can live up to 10 years, but those on factory farms are normally slaughtered between 12 and 26 weeks of age. The young birds are hung from metal shackles attached to their feet and dragged through an electrified bath that can cause them to have full-body tremors. Sometimes the turkeys are still conscious when their throats are slit and they’re placed into a bath of scalding-hot water that’s used to remove their feathers.

To reach families across Canada, PETA also plans to erect its billboard in Halifax.

Vegan Thanksgiving recipes are available on PETA’s website. For more information, please visit PETA.org.