An animal rights group has posted an ad on its website comparing the recent stabbing and decapitation of a young Winnipeg man to how humans kill animals for food.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the advertisement is meant to make people understand how animals suffer when they are killed in slaughterhouses. The group posted the imageless advertisement on its blog site Wednesday.
"PETA's ad…is meant to spur people to think about the terror and pain experienced by animals who are raised and killed for food. The group aims to demonstrate that animals — just like humans — are made of flesh, blood, and bone and deserve protection from needless killing," said a statement on PETA's website, also posted Wednesday.
Tim McLean, 22, was stabbed and then beheaded by a fellow passenger as the two rode an eastbound Greyhound bus across Manitoba last Wednesday. The man accused of second-degree murder, Vince Weiguang Li, allegedly engaged in cannibalism during the attack, which occurred just west of Portage la Prairie.
Designed using large, bold type, the ad compares McLean's struggles to those endured by an animal being slaughtered for its meat. It then refers to Li's alleged act of cannibalism before saying, "It's still going on!"
In its statement, PETA said it intended to run the notice in the Portage Daily Graphic, the local newspaper in Portage la Prairie, Man. PETA also sent out a news release to major media outlets across Canada announcing its plan to run the ad in the Manitoba paper, according to a story on the newspaper's website Wednesday.
The paper's publisher Barry Clayton, however, said the advertisement is in bad taste and will not be allowed to run.
PETA acknowledges in the ad itself that the notice may be offensive to some, but spokesman Bruce Friedrich said the goal is to inspire people to think about what they can do to stop violence against animals.
"We can't do anything to bring Tim back or bring his family relief from their suffering. But all of us can ask what we personally can do to decrease our support for this sort of violence," Freedrick said.
PETA said it will discuss later this week whether to attempt to run the ad in other publications.
