PETA’s First-Ever Booth at State Fair Aims to Make Kids Wary of Dairy

‘Unhappy Cows’ to Greet Fairgoers at Multimedia Display; Games and Graphic Videos May Make Milk and Cheese Hard to Swallow

For Immediate Release:
July 11, 2013

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Sacramento — For the first time ever, PETA is hitting the California State Fair. The lively booth will feature costumed mascots waving signs that read, “Cheese Comes From Unhappy Cows,” and a spinning prize wheel on which visitors can win vegan ice cream or an invitation to come inside and see a shocking video exposé of cruelty to animals in the dairy industry:

When:   Starting Friday, July 12, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Where:  Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento

“Our booth will look like fun and games, but the message is serious: Dairy products cause misery for animals and contribute to the obesity epidemic,” says Katie Arth, PETA’s campaign manager. “Cows are mutilated and artificially impregnated, and they mourn the loss of calf after calf so that their milk can be siphoned off for a product filled with fat and cholesterol.”

The booth’s video, narrated by actor Casey Affleck, features graphic footage of dehorning—a common practice on dairy farms—in which baby cows’ horn buds are chemically burned off or their horns are mechanically gouged out as the animals thrash and cry out in pain.

Cows aren’t alone in being hurt by the dairy industry: Factory dairy farms are a leading cause of water pollution, land degradation, and the greenhouse-gas emissions responsible for climate change, and consumption of dairy products has been linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and cancer. That’s why so many public figures, ranging from Carrie Underwood to Bill Clinton, eat vegan.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.