"Now, Go Home and Go Vegan!"
Over the weekend, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) flew a banner with a life-saving message over Queensland polling stations as residents stepped out to cast their votes.
The banner read, "Now, Go Home and Go Vegan!", encouraging residents of the Gold Coast to head straight home after voting as well as suggesting a simple measure to prevent future pandemics.
Public health experts believe the virus originated at a live-animal market, and according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 75% of emerging diseases originate in animals.
In this way, COVID-19 is similar to other infamous coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). All three spread from animals to humans. Likewise, swine flu originated in pigs and bird flu in poultry.
"As well as voting for change, we can all help to prevent future pandemics by going vegan," PETA spokesperson Emily Rice says.
"Whether it's an illness that came from wildlife in a wet market, like COVID-19, or from pigs on a filthy farm, like swine flu, the only real way to prevent future panic is by avoiding meat like the plague."
