PETA blames meat-eaters for the Amazon fires

Paige Murphy
By Paige Murphy | 4 September 2019
 

Not-for-profit organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a graphic new ad campaign associating the fires in the Amazon rainforest with meat consumption.

Known for its provocative and radical campaigns, this latest PETA ad shows a cow attacking a scarlet macaw set against a fiery background with the words "Eating Meat Kills More Animals Than You Think."

The ad, which was designed for PETA Germany by fischerAppelt, aims to educate people that ranchers set fires in the Amazon rainforest to graze cattle and grow crops for them and encourage people to go vegan.

"The demand for meat in Australia and around the world is the cause of the deadly fires that are robbing humans and other animals of their rainforest homes and delivering global climate change," says PETA Australia spokesperson Emily Rice.

"People can decry the devastation all day long, but as long as they have meat in their mouths instead of going vegan, they might as well whistle into the wind.”

More than 90% of the Amazon rainforest that's been cleared since 1970 is used for meat production, either for grazing or for growing food for cattle, including those in the Australian market.

PETA has previously caused controversy with its advertisments including a campaign in 2017 which featured Joaquin Phoenix and a flock of rescued sheep encouraging people to wear vegan wool.

At the time Ooh!Media rejected the ad from its billboards on the grounds that it was likely to offend residents in the northern NSW town of Armidale - cattle and sheep farming country.

The organisation has also had a number of ads banned from the Superbowl, including its "steamy" sex ad which depicted the difference between meat eaters and vegans having sex. 

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