People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has erected a sky-high memorial billboard in memory of the 8,500 chickens who were burnt alive in a fire at a poultry farm in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore.

The tragedy occurred on March 19 at a farm 40 km from Coimbatore city.

The billboard is erected near Annur bus stand on Sathy road.

PETA India vegan outreach coordinator Kiran Ahuka in a statement said: ” The fear and pain these gentle chickens endured as they were engulfed in smoke and flames is hard to imagine.”

He said that PETA India was calling people who are disturbed by the thought of animals suffering in fires or slaughterhouses to go vegan.

It is to be noted that vegans are vegetarians who refuse to eat eggs or other animal-derived products.

PETA India in the statement said that chickens are interesting animals and in their natural surroundings, away from factory farms, they form friendships, develop social orders, love, care for their young and enjoy a full life that includes dust bathing, making nests, and roosting in trees.

The organisation said that most chickens used for eggs are confined to space that’s smaller than an A4 sheet of paper and parts of their beaks are cut off using a hot blade to prevent them from pecking at each other out of frustration.

Dr Kiran Ahuja said that once their bodies wear out and they are no longer considered useful for egg production they are sent to the market or slaughterhouse where they are killed in full view of their companions.

PETA India in the statement said that other than sparing the lives of animals, eating vegan reduces the risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. The organisation in the statement also said that this helps fight climate catastrophe by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

He said that even Covid-19 pandemic is largely believed by experts to have stemmed from a live-animal meat market.

PETA in the statement also said that each person going vegan saves the lives of nearly 200 animals every year and spares the terrifying deaths of chickens and other sensitive animals.