Nude Activists Painted With Butcher's Diagram Bare Skin in Austin to Mark National Barbecue Month
For Immediate Release:
May 23, 2012
Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382
Austin, Texas -- Before smoke from Memorial Day barbecues fills the air, two PETA members will protest the meat industry wearing nothing but paint markings that mimic a butcher's diagram of body parts and standing behind a poster that reads, "All Animals Have the Same Parts—Go Vegan." PETA's point? Factory-farmed animals are made of flesh, blood, and bone, just as humans are. They have the same bodily organs, the same five senses, and the same range of emotions. And, of course, we all feel fear and pain, and none of us wants to die violently. Also, May is National Barbecue Month, and where better to make a point about barbecue than in Texas?
When: Thursday, May 24, 12 noon
Where: Southwest corner of W. Sixth Street and N. Congress Avenue, Austin
"Animals aren't 'breasts' or 'thighs' or 'flanks,'" says PETA senior campaigner Virginia Fort. "They think, feel, and want to live, just as you and I do. By exposing my body, I hope to expose others to the benefits of a humane vegan eating."
Every year, billions of animals have their bodies chopped up, labeled as this or that cut, and wrapped in cellophane for the supermarket meat case. PETA is encouraging people to view animals as more than walking entrées, noting that animals raised for their flesh have personalities and feelings and form families and friendships when given the chance. Factory farms deny animals everything that is natural and important to them, confining them to filthy, cramped cages, stalls, and sheds—where only a steady diet of drugs keeps them alive long enough to be prodded into the slaughterhouse. Chickens, pigs, sheep, and cows routinely undergo debeaking, tail-docking, or castration—mostly without any pain relief.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.