Finger-Lickin’ Freebie! PETA’s New Truck to Roll Into Columbia for Massive Vegan Chicken Giveaway
For Immediate Release:
November 4, 2026
Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382
“Meet Her, and You Won’t Want to Eat Her!” That’s the challenge PETA is putting to Columbia diners with its new “Free the Chicken” truck, which will roll into Finlay Park tomorrow for a massive vegan chicken giveaway near chicken-serving eateries, along with food for thought about who birds are. Over five days, PETA’s bird brigade will tempt passersby with delicious vegan chicken fingers while a moving video gives them a glimpse into the lives and personalities of chickens: intelligent, curious, playful, and loving individuals who form friendships, dream, and worry about the future.
“Every chicken ‘finger,’ wing, or sandwich was once a living, thinking, social bird who suffered a terrifying and painful death,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s vegan ‘Free the Chicken’ truck is roosting in Columbia to remind people that every chicken is someone—and once you meet her, unless you have a heart of stone, you won’t want to eat her!”
Where: Finlay Park, 901 Taylor St., Columbia
When: Thursday, November 5, through Monday, November 9, 12 noon–3 p.m.
Why: In the meat industry, chickens are confined by the tens of thousands to severely crowded, filthy sheds and bred to grow so unnaturally large that their legs often become crippled under their weight. At slaughterhouses, mechanized blades slit their throats—often while they’re still conscious—and many are scalded to death in de-feathering tanks.
Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, and PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and fear, a chicken is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
