Ad link to pig farms lashed

By NADIA MOHARIB, CALGARY SUN

An animal-rights group is unapologetic about its shocking quest to convert meat-eaters to vegetarianism with an ad linking animal cruelty to the horror endured by women slain on a B.C. pig farm.

The one-page ad, proposed by People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals to run in a Vancouver newspaper, parallels the inhumane slaughter of pigs by accused serial-killer Robert William Pickton -- who faces first-degree murder charges in connection with 15 women who disappeared from Vancouver's downtown Eastside -- to the fate of his alleged victims.

"It's horrible they would capitalize on this -- they should really consider how the families feel," said Wayne Leng, a friend of Sarah deVries, whose DNA was found on Pickton's farm.

"The timing is horrible and it's still too painful and I would hope they just drop it."

The graphic ad speaks of animals being "drugged" and slaughtered while "their struggles and cries went unanswered," but makes no direct reference to the women killed.

PETA hoped to "strike a chord" by showing the connection between acts of animal abuse and violence against people. PETA spokesman Andrew Butler said he hopes to find a publication to run the ad, to coincide with the start of Pickton's preliminary hearing in the next few months.

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