2 sign firms refused ads, PETA says

CHEYENNE (AP) — Two outdoor advertising companies refused to post billboards in Cheyenne showing a digitally manipulated image of a dog caught on a fish hook, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said.

PETA spokeswoman Karen Robertson said Friday that Young Electric Sign Co. of Salt Lake City and Next Media of Fort Collins, Colo., had rejected PETA's attempts to rent billboard space for the ads, which aim to draw attention to what PETA says is the cruelty of fishing.

Neither company returned calls Friday from the Star-Tribune of Casper.

"We're just astonished that fishers would even be upset seeing a dog with a hook through its mouth," Robertson said. "It does show that there's potential for them to realize that fishing is cruelty to animals."

Robertson said PETA had successfully posted identical billboards in Alabama, Florida and Missouri, but that the billboards have been rejected in other areas.