Halifax vegan ad campaign aims to provoke questions around eating animals

Poster advertisements installed this week at Halifax and Dartmouth ferry terminals pose the question of why people eat commonly consumed animals, but not those kept as pets.

“People get outraged when someone hurts a dog or a cat — but when it comes to a pig or a chicken or a cow, we don’t think about it, and we don’t talk about it,” said Tamara Cox, president of the Vegan Education Group, which funded the ad campaign.

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The posters are located in all three of Halifax Transit‘s ferry terminals, she said.

“Why love one… but eat the other?” reads one sign next to the passenger exit inside the Halifax Ferry Terminal.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Why love one… but eat the other?" reads one sign next to the passenger exit inside the Halifax Ferry Terminal.

Below the text are pictures of a dog and a pig.

The bottom of the poster includes text stating that pigs raised for meat in Canada live and die in poor conditions, which Cox said is inhumane.

One photo shows what appears to be someone attempting to remove a pig’s tooth with pliers.

“Even in the best conditions of the friendliest farm, pigs raised for food will be killed and are denied a natural life,” it reads.

The posters are part of a campaign developed by iVegan, a group that promotes veganism.

Cox, who lives in Beaver Bank, said she saw the same campaign in other cities and was inspired to bring it to Halifax.

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The campaign was paid for through crowdfunding.

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Cox said the posters will stay up for four months, and a similar advertisement will go up on a billboard near the Bedford Highway on May 1.

“We want to start a conversation,” she said. “We want people to ask questions. We want them to learn how the animals are treated, and we want them to consider more compassionate choices.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We want to start a conversation," she said. "We want people to ask questions. We want them to learn how the animals are treated, and we want them to consider more compassionate choices."

Tiffany Chase, a spokesperson for the municipal government, said in a phone call on Friday that advertising on Halifax Transit has to abide by guidelines set by Advertising Standards Canada.