Steak Company’s Feedlot Expansion Plans Prompt ‘Meat Stinks’ Billboard

PETA Places Ad Encouraging Residents Concerned About Air Quality to Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
April 19, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

After hundreds of community members spoke out against Valley Oaks Steak Company’s proposal to expand a cow feedlot—which would produce close to 40 tons of manure a day—in Lone Jack, PETA put up a billboard that proclaims, “Meat Stinks. Go Vegan.” The ad is located just east of Al Gossett Road on U.S. Route 50, less than 2 miles from Valley Oaks Steak Company, and it encourages everyone who’s against the proposal to steer clear of meat in favor of vegan food, which tastes—and smells—delicious.

“Every single cut of steak is the product of extreme suffering, and the problem doesn’t disappear simply by pushing it into someone else’s backyard,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is calling on anyone who doesn’t want the fumes and filthy runoff caused by a massive feedlot operation in their neighborhood to go vegan.”

Animals raised for food produce a collective 500 million tons of manure each year, which can contaminate groundwater with bacteria and viruses and is one of the leading causes of river and lake pollution in the country. 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.

In addition, cows in the beef industry are castrated without painkillers and branded with hot irons, sometimes on the face, and they’re often still fully conscious when their throats are slit at slaughterhouses. 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.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—offers a free vegan starter kit (available here) full of recipes, tips on dining out, and more.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.