SPARKS, NV -- One organization is hoping children in the Reno area are fakin’ the holidays.  Last week, PETA, people for the ethical treatment of animals, put up a billboard in Sparks at the intersection of I-80 and McCarran Boulevard, about a mile away from Dilworth Middle School.

It depicts a dog with a pigs body and asks kids, if you wouldn’t eat your dog, why eat a pig?

PETA Project Manager Alicia Woempner says they hope children will see the billboard and spark a discussion with their parents about whether or not to eat meat.  “Children have a natural compassion for animals,” says Woempner. “This is often driven out of them by a constant bombardment of fast food ads and other social messages that tell them it’s morally acceptable to eat animals.”

She also says pig living conditions on factory farms are poor and there is no reason to make animals suffer for holiday meals.  “Pigs may not be as familiar to us as dogs and cats,” says Woempner, “but they do have the same capacity to suffer and that’s something that kids understand.”

However, some Dilworth parents like Yolanda Baldridge are not thrilled about the billboards message.  “I don’t like that, I think it’s just hitting below the belt,” says Baldridge. “You are using the children to accomplish something that you should do as an adult and not use children.”

School Counseling Coordinator Katherine Loudon says the school district understands views on the topic are passionate from both sides.  “We think that’s a conversation starter,” says Loudon. “(They can) discuss how everyone is different and they have different things they might eat during celebrations or every day.”

She also says because the billboard is off of campus property that PETA has the right to advertise their message.  “If it comes up in school and becomes an issue we would encourage students to have conversations with their parents and family about the messages.”

The billboard will be up through the first week of January and PETA says for an alternative, visit their website for vegan holiday meal recipes.