Complaints Prompt Removal of ‘I’m ME, Not MEAT’ Turkey Billboard From Atop Restaurant
PETA Ad Moved to Grocery Store, Will Still Spark Conversation About Eating Animals in Run-Up to Thanksgiving
For Immediate Release:
November 9, 2017
Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382
PETA has just learned that its “I’m ME, Not MEAT. Kids: Ask Your Parents About Going Vegan” billboard was moved on Tuesday from the top of the Taquería El Sueño restaurant at 1203 Seventh St. N.W. to outside the Hy-Vee supermarket at the intersection of Third Avenue N.W. and 37th Street N.W. The billboard was at its original location for six days before it was moved because of complaints from the restaurant’s owners.
“Now that PETA’s billboard has been moved near a grocery store, we can only give thanks to the restaurant owners who were appalled by this simple message of compassion,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “From his new home, this beautiful bird will inspire countless shoppers to visit PETA.org for delicious vegan Thanksgiving recipes, perhaps for the first time ever.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that more than 45 million turkeys are killed in the U.S. every year for Thanksgiving and that Minnesota is the country’s top turkey-producing state. While turkeys in the wild can live up to 10 years, those raised for food are normally killed when they’re between 12 and 26 weeks old. These young birds are hung upside down and dragged through an electrified bath. Then their throats are slit and they are dumped into a scalding-hot defeathering tank, often while still conscious.
PETA offers a free vegan starter kit (available here) full of recipes, tips, and more. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
