PETA East Haven Billboard: 'Look Carefully, It's HIM, Not Ham'

EAST HAVEN, CT — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals "pig pals" will hand out free Tofurky plant-based ham slices and roasts outside the Hagaman Memorial Library Saturday at 1 p.m. It's part of a PETA campaign to remind people that, "pigs are thinking, feeling individuals who don’t want to die for their holiday feasts."

To that end, PETA installed a billboard at 112 Frontage Road.

“Pigs are playful, intelligent, and loving beings who value their lives and don’t deserve to have their bodies carved up for food any more than we do,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA encourages everyone to celebrate their holidays with compassion by choosing a delicious vegan roast that leaves pigs in peace, not in pieces.”

According to a news release from PETA, meat industry workers "chop off piglets’ tails, clip their teeth with pliers, and castrate the males."

"At slaughterhouses, workers shoot pigs in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throat—often while they’re still conscious," according to PETA.

The campaign is to encourage people to "go vegan."

" Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year and reduces their own risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity," PETA claims. Its free vegan starter kit is filled with tips to help "make the switch."

For more information on PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to eat," click here.