Update: ‘I’m ME, Not MEAT’ Billboard Now Up Near Site of Pig’s Death

PETA Memorial Honors Pigs Who Jumped From Truck, Encourages People to Help Keep Animals off the Road by Going Vegan

For Immediate Release:
June 13, 2019

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

In honor of the three young pigs who jumped off a truck on I-64 on May 13—one of whom was struck by a car and killed and two of whom were injured but are now thriving at a sanctuary—PETA has placed a billboard in the area showing a pig’s face next to the words “I’m ME, Not MEAT. See the Individual. Go Vegan.“

“If this message of compassion inspires just one driver to go vegan, this young pig won’t have died in vain,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s billboard pays tribute to the bravery of these three pigs and encourages motorists to help prevent tragedies like this one by keeping all animals off their plates.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. In today’s meat industry, mother pigs are squeezed into narrow metal stalls barely larger than their bodies and kept almost constantly pregnant or nursing. Pigs’ tails are chopped off, their teeth are cut with pliers, and males are castrated—all without any painkillers. At the slaughterhouse, they’re hung upside down—often while still conscious—and bled to death.

In 2018 alone, there were more than 90 accidents in the U.S. involving trucks used to transport pigs, chickens, turkeys, and cows. So far in 2019, PETA has already noted 50 accidents involving vehicles carrying animals used for food.

The billboard is located on I-64 westbound, half a mile from Exit 47.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.