The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA welcomes 2009 with its latest campaign featuring longtime advocate, actress-singer Yasmien Kurdi.
PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) received an e-mail from the world's largest animal rights organization, with an attached a copy of the campaign posters that will get the message across to a wider audience.
PETA explained the promotional materials: "In the first ad, Kurdi poses inside a cage with a fellow chick—a baby chicken, that is—under the tagline ‘Try to Relate to Who's on Your Plate. Go Vegetarian.' In the second, Yasmien poses on top of a cage under the tagline ‘Respect Chicks. Go Vegetarian.'"
A staunch supporter of PETA and its ideals, Yasmien has been very active in using her celebrity status to provide awareness and encourage the public to drop meat from their diet and practice a healthy lifestyle by eating vegetables instead.
"With so many delicious alternatives now available, it's easier than ever to enjoy great food without causing animal suffering... Ang laking help ng pagiging vegetarian kasi ang pagiging vegetarian nali-lessen ang mga diseases, lalo na ‘yong mga heart diseases, kidney, at kung anu-ano pa," said Yasmien in a 2007 interview.
The new campaign reiterates PETA's appeal to the public to embrace a healthy lifestyle. Aside from reducing, if not eliminating the chances of acquiring diseases, being a vegetarian helps in reducing the appalling practice of subjecting animals to cruel treatment. An investigation revealed that animals raised intensively in factory farms regularly undergo tail docking, debeaking, and castration without pain relievers that would at least ease the suffering.