Oklahoma town rejects PETA's request to change its name

WASHINGTON POST
In recent years, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal rights group, has asked the cities of Rodeo, Calif., Hamburg, N.Y., and Fishkill, N.Y., to switch to more "animal friendly" names. All refused.
Two weeks ago, in yet another defeat to the organization's renaming efforts, officials declined to change their town's name from Slaughterville to Veggieville, Okla.
PETA offered to give Slaughterville schools $20,000 worth of veggie burgers with the works -- enough for about 4,000 meals, PETA estimates -- if the town would adopt the new name.
Though there are many cattle ranches in Slaughterville (pop. 3,900), which was named for local merchant Jim Slaughter when the town was incorporated in 1970, there are no abattoirs. Even so, "the name conjures up images of intense slaughter," said Ravi Chand, PETA's vegan campaign coordinator.
Chand argued the case for Veggieville at a packed town meeting where officials unanimously rejected the name. Last week, an Oklahoma City country music radio station celebrated Slaughterville pride by hosting a "100 percent beef" cookout at the town hall, where residents dined on hamburgers and hot dogs.