Finger-Lickin’ Freebie! PETA’s New Truck to Roll Into Athens for Massive Vegan Chicken Giveaway

For Immediate Release:
October 13, 2026

Contact:
Alex Payne 202-483-7382

“Meet Her, and You Won’t Want to Eat Her!” That’s the challenge PETA is putting to Athens diners with its new “Free the Chicken” truck, which will roll into town Thursday for a massive vegan chicken giveaway near chicken-serving eateries, along with food for thought about who birds are. Over three 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 Athens 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:           Memorial Plaza UGA, 101 Sanford Dr., Athens

When:             Thursday, October 15, starting at noon, and Friday, October 16, starting at 2:30 p.m.

Where:           Sanford Stadium, 100 Sanford Dr., Athens

When:             Saturday, October 17, starting at 11 a.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.