Provocative animal rights ads appear on city buses

Provocative animal rights ads comparing eating pigs to dining on dogs, chomping on chicken and chowing down on cats are showing uponSaskatoon buses.

The ads are part of a national campaign by Mercy for Animals Canada. The campaign asks "Why love one but eat the other?"

The ads aredesigned to influence people to become vegetarians, said Stephane Perrais, director of Mercy for Animals Canada.

'Their natural lives are always shortened. And it always finishes with extreme violent slaughter. Stephane Perrais

"We're trying to make people realize that cows, chickens and pigs are just as intelligent and affectionate and full of personality as companion animals that we usually have in our homes such as cats and dogs," he said.

Over 95 per cent of the 700 million animals raised and slaughtered for food in Canada each year are confined on industrial farms in filthy conditions and endure cruelty, he said.

"Their natural lives are always shortened," he said. "And it always finishes with extreme violent slaughter."

The ad series runs for four weeks in Saskatoon, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Halifax.