Anti-meat billboard in Casper ruffling feathers

August 15, 2024

A billboard in Casper, Wyoming, is ruffling feathers in the state’s agriculture industry, especially when it comes to spreading incorrect information. The billboard with an angry chicken grasping an AR-15-type rifle has sprung up in Casper that reads: “If bacon and burgers don’t get you, I may. Bird Flu Kills. Please, try vegan.” PETA is the group behind the message, and they have placed similar signs in other areas where avian influenza has been detected. Wyoming Stockgrower’s Association executive Jim Magagna said the message is inaccurate and nearly laughable.

“It’s just part of their goal which is to eliminate red meat consumption and the processing of animals, whether they’re cattle or chickens or sheep,” Magagna said. “Fortunately, with most of the public, particularly the public in Wyoming, it’s more a subject for laughs and humor than it is winning any converts for them.”

Magagna said he’s not too worried about it, but said the information is incorrect.

“It’s so misleading,” he said. “First of all, they bring up the avian influenza which has not been found anywhere in beef cattle and is not a threat to human health so that’s a joke.”  

The Wyoming Department of Agriculture in June reported there had been a case of avian influenza in a dairy herd. Wyoming State Veterinarian Dr. Hallie Hasel told Cowboy State Daily that one herd of dairy cattle remains under quarantine. She confirmed there has been no human transmission.

This comes on the heels of a lawsuit PETA filed against Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport because it denied the group putting up its message in the airport terminal in Rock Springs. The proposed ad features a cow with a leather travel bag as its body with, “Was She Killed to Make Your Carry-On? “Cruelty doesn’t fly — Choose vegan.” PETA claims the airport board’s decision violated its free speech rights and was unconstitutional.

Source: Western Ag Network, Cowboy State Daily (Photo by Dale Killingbeck)