The animal-advocacy group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says it won $35,000 in legal fees from a Rock Springs, Wyoming, airport, and the chance to run an advertisement asking travelers if a cow was killed to make their carry-on luggage.
The settlement follows a June 2022 lawsuit in which PETA launched a First Amendment complaint over the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport’s overseeing board’s refusal to run its anti-leather ad in the airport.
Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport Director Devon Brubaker noted in a Thursday message to Cowboy State Daily that the airport's overseeing board did not make any payments to PETA, however. The payout came from an insurance provider.
"Our insurance carrier included a payment of $35,000 to settle and avoid future legal costs," wrote Brubaker. "Therefore, no airport or taxpayers funds were expended in this settlement."
In a Thursday statement, PETA called the settlement a First Amendment win. The group had accused the airport board of discriminating against it for its viewpoint, which the First Amendment doesn’t allow in a limited public forum, such as the airport.
“Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport unconstitutionally tried to block PETA from asking consumers to choose vegan luggage that leaves cows in peace,” Asher Smith, PETA Foundation Director of litigation said in the statement. “PETA is celebrating this victory for the First Amendment and for cows who don’t want to be tormented and killed for their skins.”
The ad in question shows a live cow made into a piece of luggage and asks, "Was she killed to make your carry-on?"
The statement says cows have friends, hold grudges and mourn separations from one another.
“Cows raised for leather may be skinned and dismembered while still conscious,” says the statement, “having already endured castration, branding, or tail-docking without painkillers.”
Doesn’t Mean We Agree
The Sweetwater County Airport Board, which oversees the airport, agreed to the settlement unanimously, says a Thursday statement by the airport, sent to Cowboy State Daily by Brubaker.
The settlement allows for the placement of PETA’s ad and ends the legal dispute without precedents being set. Also, the airport doesn’t admit to any wrongdoing with this settlement, says the statement.
“We appreciate (retired) U.S. District Judge William F. Downs’… successful efforts to mediate this matter, which ends the lawsuit that PETA filed and means our airport can fully focus on our primary mission of serving the people of Southwest Wyoming and supporting the Wyoming way of life,” said Brubaker in a quote in the statement.
The settlement doesn’t indicate that the airport agrees with PETA’s viewpoints as expressed in the lawsuit or elsewhere, Brubaker emphasized.
“Our board, our leadership team and everyone involved with this airport believe fervently in the First Amendment and the right of free speech, as well as believing in our Wyoming way of life and our legacy of ranching and agricultural industries,” says the statement. “That includes hunting wild game in a manner that is sustainable, environmentally conscious, follows all game laws and always d includes the ethical treatment of all animals.”
These beliefs predate PETA’s founding, says the statement.
“We consider this legal matter settled, and we’re moving on,” it concludes.
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
