Proposed Chicken Farms Prompt ‘Meat Stinks’ Billboard

PETA Moves to Place Ad Encouraging Residents Against the Idea of Having Chicken Farms in Their Community to Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
April 3, 2018

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

After learning of community tension over proposed plans to establish chicken farms in Washington County because a Costco slaughterhouse is opening nearby, PETA is trying to place a billboard in the area that proclaims, “Meat Stinks. Go Vegan.” The sensible ad would encourage everyone against the idea of the farms to steer clear of meat in favor of vegan food, which tastes—and smells—delicious.

“There are suffering and squalor in every single bite of meat, and the solution doesn’t involve pushing the problem into someone else’s backyard,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is calling on all residents who don’t relish the prospect of having a filthy, noxious chicken farm open up shop in their neighborhood to go vegan.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that a chicken factory can produce more than 3,000 pounds of manure every day. The odor can permeate the surrounding air, and runoff can contaminate local drinking water. On these farms, chickens are often crammed by the tens of thousands into filthy, ammonia-filled sheds where they live amid dead chickens and their own waste. After being transported to the slaughterhouse in all weather extremes, their throats are often cut while they’re still conscious, and many are scalded to death in defeathering tanks.

Every person who goes vegan not only spares more than 100 animals a year daily suffering and a terrifying death but also reduces his or her risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and numerous other ailments. Additionally, a report by the United Nations concluded that a global switch to vegan eating is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of climate change.

PETA offers a free vegan starter kit (available here) full of recipes, tips on dining out, and more. For more information, please visit PETA.org.