Hurricane Florence Has Gone, and Now, PETA's Billboard Has Blown Into Town, Asking Meat-Eaters to Take Responsibility, Go Vegan, and Save Lives—Including Their Own
For Immediate Release:
October 29, 2018
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Augusta, Ga. – In response to the deaths of more than 5,500 pigs and 4.1 million chickens and turkeys during Hurricane Florence—all of whom drowned slowly while trapped inside massive sheds—PETA has placed a billboard in Augusta linking the drownings to meat-eaters, who feed the industry and therefore should accept responsibility for the animals’ deaths. The billboard features a photograph of two pigs swimming for their lives in the storm’s aftermath and proclaims, “Stop Eating Meat! They Die for Your Cruel and Dirty Habit.”
The ad is located on Interstate 20 facing eastbound traffic at mile marker 199, before the South Carolina state line, on the left-hand side.
“If this message of compassion inspires just one person to leave pigs and chickens off their plate, there will be less support for an industry in which millions of animals die horrifically, whether in a slaughterhouse or during hurricanes and floods,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s billboard urges meat-eaters to change their ways before the next wave of animals dies slowly and painfully in another natural disaster.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that in addition to causing the animals’ preventable deaths, Hurricane Florence floodwaters breached the pork industry’s massive manure lagoons, potentially contaminating the region’s water supplies with tens of millions of gallons of filth.
In addition to sparing the lives of nearly 200 animals each per year, people who go vegan reduce their risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and numerous other health issues.
PETA offers free vegan starter kits on its website that are full of recipes, tips, and more. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
