PETA uses Reagan to push veggies

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is launching an ad campaign featuring former President Reagan to push vegetarianism as an anti-Alzheimer's diet.

In an event to be held across from the White House Tuesday, PETA will unveil a billboard featuring a picture of the longtime Alzheimer's patient that reads: "Win One for the Gipper: Go Vegetarian. Animal Fats Double Your Risk of Alzheimer's."

"A famous face can focus badly needed attention on diseases -- not only on the hope for a cure one day, but also on preventing them right now," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement. "The surest way to fight Alzheimer's is with your fork -- by going vegetarian."

Former first lady Nancy Reagan has disavowed the advertisements, but Newkirk said PETA still hopes to get her support for the project, which Newkirk said "stands to spare countless families the horrors of Alzheimer's."

Reagan died last month at the age of 92 after a nearly decade-long battle against the degenerative disease. His son, Ron Reagan, has come out in support of stem-cell research, which many scientists believe might provide a treatment for Alzheimer's.