‘I’m ME, Not MEAT’ Billboard Up Near Site of Truck Crash That Killed 13 Cows

PETA Memorial Honors Cows Killed in Wreck, Encourages People to Keep Animals off the Road by Going Vegan

For Immediate Release:
February 11, 2019

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

In memory of the 13 cows who died when a truck carrying them crashed on I-81 in Southampton Township on January 4, PETA has placed a billboard near the crash site that shows a cow’s face next to the words “I’m ME, Not MEAT. See the Individual. Go Vegan.” The billboard, which will be in place for the next month, is located on I-81, just south of Route 174, facing south.

“If this message of compassion inspires just one driver to go vegan, the 13 cows who were killed in this wreck won’t have died in vain,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s billboard pays tribute to these gentle animals and encourages motorists to help prevent tragedies like this by keeping all animals off their plates.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that before cows are loaded onto trucks bound for slaughterhouses, they’re often confined to cramped, filthy feedlots without protection from the elements or temperature extremes. Calves are torn away from their mothers within hours of birth and are castrated and branded without pain relief. At the slaughterhouse, workers shoot cows in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throats—often while they’re still conscious and able to feel pain.

In 2018 alone, there were more than 90 accidents involving trucks used to transport chickens, pigs, turkeys, and cows in the U.S. In 2019, PETA has already noted a dozen transport truck crashes involving animals used for food.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.