‘I’m me, not meat’: PETA to place billboard in honor of cows killed in Florida crash

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it will honor the cows that were killed when a tractor-trailer carrying them crashed on I-75 in Sumter County last week.

The organization said it plans to place a billboard in the area were the crash happened. PETA said the billboard will say: "I'm me, not meat. See the individual. Go vegan."

"Gentle cows experienced a terrifying death on the highway, and those who survived were rounded up and presumably taken to slaughter," said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "PETA's ad encourages anyone disturbed by the thought of animals suffering on the side of the road or facing the slaughterhouse knife to go vegan."

The driver of the tractor-trailer fell asleep at the wheel and crashed, resulting in some cows running free on the highway, troopers said.

It is not known how many cows were killed in the crash, but officials said they were able to capture most of the estimated 83 cows that were in the trailer.