It’s certainly thought-provoking, and designed to be at least a bit provocative.
The animal rights group Mercy for Animals has put up a large billboard near a major thoroughfare in the city of Burlington, Ontario. It shows a cute puppy, and cute piglet and asks why is one a pet, the other food?
What’s more, Lakeshore Road, is on the way to a city park where a meat-eating festival is to be held this Labour Day holiday weekend, billed as the biggest “rib fest” in Canada.
The huge ribfest began 20 years ago, as a fund-raising and charity event put on by the Rotary Club of Burlington, a community service organization.
Drivers eager for big juicy barbequed beef and pork ribs, or chicken, smothered in a variety of thick and spicy sauces, are encouraged by the billboard to become vegetarian If nothing else, the billboard encourages discussion on why some animals become our beloved pets, while others become supper.
According to the animal rights group press release, “Farmed animals have little to no legal protection, and numerous undercover investigations by Mercy For Animals have revealed rampant animal abuse at Canada’s factory farms. Cruelty that would be illegal if it were inflicted on dogs or cats, such as neglect, mutilation, transport through all weather extremes, and gruesome and violent slaughter, is commonplace in the meat industry. Yet farmed animals are no less intelligent or capable of feeling pain than are the dogs and cats we cherish as companions.
Indded, Mercy for Animals has been involved in a number of “undercover” videos on factory farms. In several instances this has revealed harsh conditions, and sometimes cruel actions by factory farm workers. As a result of the films, there have been inestigations and a few cruelty charges laid.
While Mercy for Animals may strongly disagree with the entire meat-eating concept, “Canada’s Largest Ribfest” in Burlington has become the model for festivals by the Recycling Council of Ontario and has been the three time consecutive winner of the Best Greening of a Festival or Event award from Festivals and Events Ontario.
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