PETA Denied Billboard Content

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) tried to place a billboard in Hanford, Calif., stating "Real Milk Comes from Real Sick Cows" and urging people to "Go Vegan," but the nation's biggest billboard company told the group no.

After bovine spongiform encephalopathy was confirmed in a dairy cow that was presented for rendering, PETA announced it would place its message on a billboard near Baker Commodities, the Hanford facility where the animal was taken for initial processing.

When the group called Lamar Advertising Co. to put up a message, the company wouldn't accept it, PETA spokeswoman Alicia Woempner says.

"We got more or less a generic response, 'Unfortunately, I cannot accept this ad content,'" Woempner says. PETA has since switched to a television ad in the Fresno market.

Lamar turned down the message out of concern that the group's statement was not truthful, says Hal Kilshaw, the company's vice president of governmental relations.

Reprinted in part from The Fresno Bee