O, Canada! We're always busy, busy, busy during this festive season, but we haven't forgotten our pals in the Great White North—y compris nos amis francophones. Yanks and Canucks have so much in common, and yet there are distinctive differences. For example, while the yuletide finds a disturbing number of friendly, intelligent pigs on this side of the 49th parallel killed for ham, it's the saddest day of the year for abused factory-farmed turkeys in Canada. So PETA is encouraging Canadian kids (since kids haven't yet been taught to suppress their natural compassion for animals) to consider what—and who—they're eating. PETA has placed the attention-grabbing holiday billboard seen below on a highway leading into Victoria, British Columbia.

PETA's also giving U.S. kids something to chew on other than cruelly produced ham with this billboard, just outside Reno, Nevada. 

Of course, companion animals need our help, too—and it's not just children who need to reconsider their attitudes. So PETA is also looking to put up a brand-new billboard—promoting spaying and neutering to effectively curb animal overpopulation—in the hope of reaching those kind people for whom this season is more about revering Mary than reveling merrily.

We'd like to thank all the donors whose support of PETA makes it possible to place these billboards, which foster awareness of animal rights. 

What You Can Do

To give a holiday gift that keeps on giving to animals year-round, become a PETA member. And please remember to shop PETA for everyone on your list—each purchase funds vital efforts to improve and save animals' lives!

Earlier this week, a federal appeals court ruled to uphold a Texas law that requires doctors to describe ultrasounds and play audio of the fetal heartbeat to women seeking abortions.

No matter where you stand on abortion, we hope you'll appreciate the billboard that we'll be erecting in Austin, Texas.

Pig: © iStockphoto.com/Chris Pethick

After all, the meat industry is responsible for immense suffering—from castration without painkillers to animals who are shackled and have their throat slit, sometimes while fully conscious—and billions of deaths, which is about as anti-life as it gets. In contrast, a vegan saves 100 lives a year in addition to reducing his or her risk of dying prematurely from many of our nation's top killers, including heart disease and cancer. Now that's pro-life by any definition!

KFC is known to work with suppliers that breed and drug chickens to grow so large that they can't even walk, cut off baby birds' sensitive beaks without any painkillers, and drop birds into tanks of scalding-hot water—often while they are still conscious. KFC accepts these cruel practices because they help fill the chain's buckets of chicken at a cheap price.

To highlight the twisted practices of a company that focuses on its wallets while ignoring animal welfare, we've created a series of provocative billboards. "Another Life, Another Dollar," "3 Lives for $2.99," and "Cheap Chicken Means Animals Pay a High Price" are just a few of the taglines. Hey, we never said subtlety was our forte.

Check out the ads, and then tell us which is your favorite by leaving a comment below!