German court rules PETA Holocaust ad offensive

BERLIN -- Germany's highest court has ruled that a PETA ad campaign comparing animal slaughterhouses to the Holocaust is an offense against human dignity.

The 2003 campaign used eight 60-square-foot panels depicting images of factory farms next to Jewish concentration camp inmates and the slogan "Holocaust on your plate."

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled Thursday that the ad campaign was not protected under freedom of speech laws.

PETA -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- claimed its goal was to compare Nazi-run concentration camps with contemporary animal abuse.

Paul Spiegel, former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, filed the suit against the ad campaign along with several other Jewish organizations.