Billboard Near ‘Execution Capital of the World’ Says Don’t Kill to Eat

PETA Gives State Commuters Some Food for Thought

For Immediate Release:
September 4, 2014

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Houston’s proximity to the “Death Penalty Capital of the World” has inspired PETA to erect a 40-foot billboard that offers thousands of commuters something to chew on every day. The billboard, which is available for preview here, shows a pair of frightened pigs in a slaughter pen and reads, “Not Everybody on Death Row Has Committed a Crime. Go Vegan.” A PETA representative will be on site to discuss the new campaign on Monday and Tuesday.

When:   Monday, September 8 and Tuesday, September 9, 12 p.m.

Where:  The intersection of Hutchins Street and St. Joseph Parkway, overlooking Interstate 45, Houston

Botched executions—a topic that’s dominated headlines this summer—are common in the meat industry. More than 1 million pigs die each year on severely crowded transport trucks before they even reach the slaughterhouse. These pigs often freeze, suffocate, die of heart attacks, or are trampled or crushed in traffic accidents. Those who make it to the slaughterhouse are often improperly and ineptly stunned and end up being plunged, alive and conscious, into scalding tanks. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—encourages everyone to give animals a reprieve by choosing healthy, humane vegan meals.

“There’s no chance of appeal or clemency for the pigs, cows, and chickens who are killed every day for food,” says PETA Associate Director of Campaigns Lindsay Rajt. “No matter where you stand on capital punishment, PETA’s billboard makes the point that meat-eaters are responsible for the traumatic execution of animals.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.