Give ‘Pork Pie Way’ the Boot and Take the Vegan Route, PETA Urges Leicestershire Council
With “Pork Pie Way” on the shortlist of names for the new Melton Mowbray Distributor Road, PETA sent a letter to Leicestershire County Council leader Dan Harrison, urging him to hit the brakes on the pig-demeaning name and put Vegan Pie Way up for the public to vote on. To jumpstart the transition, PETA has offered to help cover the costs of updating the road’s signage if the animal-friendly name is chosen.
In the letter, PETA points out that in addition to showing respect for pigs – playful, friendly individuals who don’t want to be hacked to bits and turned into artery-clogging pies – changing the road name to Vegan Pie Way would also be a great way to celebrate the city’s history, given that the word “vegan” was coined in Leicester by Donald Watson in 1944.
“Vegan Pie Way would keep the nod to local heritage while swapping out meat, something more people than ever are doing out of concern for animals, the planet, and their own health,” says PETA Vice President of Corporate Projects Dawn Carr. “PETA is encouraging Leicestershire to lead the way with a more compassionate road name that kind tourists everywhere would happily take a detour for.”
PETA notes that pigs are soothed by music, love playing ball, sleep in “pig piles,” and even enjoy getting massages. In the meat industry, workers chop off piglets’ tails and clip their teeth with pliers – and the animals are forced to endure intense confinement in dark, filthy sheds. Before being chopped up and turned into pies, most pigs in the UK are forced into gas chambers, where they panic, thrash, and struggle to breathe as CO₂ gas fills their lungs. Once their squeals subside, workers hoist them by their legs and slit their throats.
Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their food-related carbon footprint, and slashes their risk of suffering from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a pig is a dog is a boy.
