PETA releasing new Thanksgiving ad that asks, 'If you wouldn't eat your dog, why eat a turkey?'

How would children feel if their favorite pooch were stuffed, seasoned and fed to them for Thanksgiving? That's the question the animal rights organization PETA is asking in a new outdoor advertisement campaign with billboards being erected in Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon, New Mexico, Utah and Tennessee.

The billboard reads, "Kids: If You Wouldn't Eat Your Dog, Why Eat a Turkey?" and features a Jack Russell terrier's head on a turkey's body.

The group said in a release that it plans to run the ad near public schools in hopes that it will spark a dialogue between kids and their parents.

"Kids love animals, and if they thought about how turkeys feel pain and fear just as dogs and cats do, they'd trade in their drumsticks for Tofurky in a heartbeat," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in a media release. "This Thanksgiving, families can give all animals something to be thankful for by sticking to humane, delicious vegan meals."

According to the release, more than 250 million turkeys are killed in the U.S. every year—more than 40 million of which are used for Thanksgiving dinners.

"In nature, turkeys are protective and loving parents as well as spirited explorers who can climb trees and run as fast as 25 miles per hour. But most turkeys slated to be killed for food are crammed into filthy warehouses, where disease, smothering and heart attacks are common," the release reads. "Turkeys are drugged and bred to grow such unnaturally large upper bodies that their legs often become crippled under the weight."

Ad courtesy of PETA