040404 Canadian PM Says Anti-Meat Ads 'Unacceptable'

Vancouver - Prime Minister Paul Martin on Wednesday condemned an animal rights campaign linking the eating of meat to the murders of women in British Columbia.

Billboards in Toronto and in Edmonton paid for by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals show pictures of a woman and a pig accompanied by the slogan, "Neither Of Us Is Meat."

The allusion is to the women who disappeared during the 1990s in the Vancouver area. Port Coquitlam pig farmer Robert Pickton has been charged in the deaths of 15 women.

Human remains found on Pickton's farm may have gone into sausages produced there, provincial authorities speculated recently.

The Canadian Press quotes Martin as saying there are ways to support a cause, but this isn't one of them.

Relatives of the dead women were also dismayed.

Rick Frey, whose daughter Marnie's remains were found on the farm, said the "terrible" ad gave him nightmares.

The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres called the ad "grotesque and exploitative in the extreme," reported the London Free Press.

But Pat deVries, another victim's mother said she was not upset, according to The Canadian Press.

PETA argued it was making the point that both animals and humans experience pain.

The group plans to put up about 1,000 posters of the ad next month in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver.

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