By Veronica Nett
The Charleston Gazette
SISSONVILLE, W.Va. — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it will donate money to the Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department — if the firefighters wear helmets with ads featuring bikini-clad women.
The national group’s proposed ad would depict one of PETA’s “Chili Chicks” and include the message “Vegans Are Hot! Free Smokin’ recipes: PETA.org,” according to a letter sent to the fire department Tuesday.
The department lost its main station, three trucks and nearly all of its equipment in an electrical fire on Oct. 1.
“Our proposal is a win-win solution: It would help rebuild the firehouse and also help keep it staffed with healthy firefighters,” PETA vice president of campaigns Dan Mathews said in a prepared statement. “Sissonville’s brave firefighters could help get out the lifesaving message that people who stuff themselves with chicken nuggets, fast-food burgers and dairy products are playing with fire.”
Vegans do not eat any animal products.
The ad is not a realistic proposal, said Kent Carper, president of the Kanawha County Commission.
“I think PETA is certainly a fine organization and has some very good goals, but the situation at the Sissonville Fire Department is tragic and serious, and it should not be trivialized by someone wanting to get notoriety,” Carper said.
The final decision on the PETA proposal is up to the Sissonville VFD, Carper said.
Members of the Fire Department’s board of directors did not return phone calls late Tuesday afternoon.
The fire destroyed nearly $2 million in property, equipment and vehicles. The department’s insurance will cover about $1 million in damage to the trucks and building. Insurance coverage for the lost equipment has not been settled.
The department’s board of directors has estimated it needs to raise an additional $350,000 to rebuild and re-establish itself.
The Sissonville department has raised about $100,000 through donations, fundraisers, and corporate and state pledges.
PETA representatives did not have a set price Tuesday that the group was willing to offer the Sissonville VFD for the ads.
The proposal marks the first time PETA has offered to put ads on firefighters’ helmets, said Danielle Katz, an assistant manager with PETA.
The animal-rights group made similar offers to a California police department to place advertisements on its cruisers, and to a fire department in Indianapolis to put the ads on the side of its trucks, Katz said.
Neither of the organizations agreed to the proposals, but Katz said she is hopeful the Sissonville VFD will seriously consider the offer.
“It’s really more of a public service announcement,” Katz said. “Residents in the area who struggle with high rates of obesity can lose weight and lower their cholesterol by simply switching to a healthy vegan diet.”
The campaign also would draw support from PETA’s more than 2 million members, she said.
PETA’s inspiration for the ad proposal is based on the book “The Engine 2 Diet,” written by a Texas firefighter, according to a news release from the animal rights group.
The group also offered to send the Sissonville VFD a week’s worth of veggie dogs and burgers, in addition to copies of “The Engine 2 Diet.”
Copyright 2010 Charleston Newspapers