PETA Offers to Help Bridge the Gap in Minot’s Bridge-Repair Budget—With a Cow-Friendly Message

For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2026

Contact:
Hannah Nelson 202-483-7382

As the Minot City Council works to address the deteriorating Third Street Bridge following a troubling engineering report, PETA sent a letter today to Mayor Mark Jantzer with a concrete idea: PETA will contribute towards bridge repairs if permitted to place a cow-friendly message on the overpass, urging drivers in one of the top beef-producing states to consider going vegan.

“PETA wants to bridge the connection between meaty meals and their main ingredient: thinking, feeling beings who feel love, joy, pain, and fear, just as we do,” says PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk, a vegan for over 50 years. “PETA urges Mayor Jantzer to greenlight this win-win offer and help Minoters prevent their own arteries from collapsing.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness and free Vegan Starter Kits for anyone thinking of making the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Mayor Jantzer follows.

January 7, 2026

The Honorable Mark Jantzer

Mayor of Minot

Dear Mr. Jantzer:

Greetings! I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 10.4 million members and supporters globally, including many in North Dakota, with a proposal: In light of recent reports indicating that the Third Street Bridge requires repairs, PETA would like to help contribute toward the costs, if—once the repairs are complete—we’d be permitted to place the following advertisement on the structure:

Our ad would help bridge the gap between meat-eaters’ cognitive dissonance and what’s on their plates. Cows are intelligent, curious animals and excellent mothers who feel joy, stress, love, grief, and fear much as humans do. They form close friendships, mourn the loss of loved ones, enjoy listening to music, and learn by observing one another. Yet despite all this, more than 300 million cows are killed for their flesh each year.

Beyond being kinder to animals, a vegan diet requires significantly less water, land, and energy and helps protect natural resources and reduce pollution. Vegan diets are also kinder to human health, as plant-based foods contain no cholesterol and help lower the risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization and the American Cancer Society have reported that the overconsumption of red meat ranks as the third leading cause of cancer in the U.S., after alcohol and smoking.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

Founder

cc:       Rob Henke, Director of the North Dakota Department of Transportation