PETA Jokes About Meat Allergy Tick

Just in time for tick season, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced in its official blog Monday that the animal rights' organization was set to release meat-allergy inducing ticks in the northeastern United States.

But wait — it was an April Fool's joke. The post, according to PETA, was merely a prank. Do you find the antics amusing?

On the North Fork Patch's Facebook page, Billy Eagle wrote: "That's sick PETA has always been weird but this is way out there, these tick born diseases are no joking matter. Trust me I have Lyme's it can be a nightmare." 

According to a post on PETA's website, the Lone Star tick causes people to develop an allergy to meat. A person bitten would develop a rash and become uncomfortable after eating meat, the blog said.

PETA then asked how readers would feel about the organization releasing Lone Star ticks in parks in the northeast. The goal would be to help people go vegan or vegetarian, the post read.

"Really, the only pushback we anticipate will be from fast-food companies," PETA's Don Beleav, a biologist, said on the site. "Maybe McDonald's will start handing out free flea and tick collars with its value meals."

PETA also said it was willing to offer the bugs by mail.

Do you think PETA's April Fool's joke was funny — or no laughing matter? Share your thoughts in the comments section.