A road in rural Connecticut named after cooked meat has caught the attention of PETA, a global animal rights group.
On Dec. 14, PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — sent a letter to a local official in Killingworth, Connecticut, and posted a news release asking for Roast Meat Hill Road to be renamed Vegan Roast Hill Road in order to “spread goodwill to all sentient beings and promote compassionate traditions this holiday season.”
The rebrand, which PETA offered to pay for, would encourage town residents to enjoy “hearty vegan roasts,” the organization wrote, noting that veganism is on the rise in the United States.
“The millions of cows, pigs, and other animals who are killed for food each year, including for holiday roasts, are raised on filthy factory farms and endure stressful crowding, routine mutilation, and violent death,” PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman wrote.
Killingworth First Selectman Nancy Gorski, the recipient of PETA’s letter, told the New Haven Register that she plans to discuss the proposal at an upcoming board of selectman’s meeting.
“It’s just not going to get changed, I can assure you,” former First Selectman Cathy Lino told the outlet, saying there are better ways of educating people.
The road, a two-way street that snakes past colonial homes surrounded by stone walls, is likely the oldest road in town, according to Patch.
Why early inhabitants chose its name is unclear, though one of the more absurd explanations claims that lightning struck a cart pulled by oxen on the thoroughfare, roasting the animals on the spot, according to the outlet.
PETA has a history of asking for names to be changed in order to respect animal rights.
In 2021, the organization, headquartered in Virginia, requested that the Major League Baseball refer to bullpens as “arm barns,” adding that the word bullpen refers to an area where bulls are held before they are slaughtered.
Other requests have been more outlandish, including in 2009 when the organization suggested renaming fish “sea kittens,” citing the need to create a more positive image of fish.
A spokesperson for PETA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.