A new ad campaign by an animal rights group compares the murder of women on a B.C. pig farm to the treatment of animals killed for food.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says the full-page ad is a legitimate campaign, but the families of the murdered women say it's disgusting.

The Vancouver Province was to have run the ad Wednesday, but decided to pull it.

The ad featured a series of headlines describing the B.C. murder victims, who were drugged and slaughtered, their heads sawed off and their body parts refrigerated.

It doesn't refer specifically to accused killer Robert Pickton, but the allusions to the case are clear, referring to unconfirmed reports of body parts being found on Pickton's pig farm.

PETA says the comparison is justified.

"The grotesque tragedy of these poor women is similar to what happens to chickens, pigs and other animals every day," said Bruce Friedrich of PETA.

PETA issued a news release saying, "People who are appalled by Pickton's alleged acts think nothing of sitting down to a dinner featuring the cut-up bits of a tormented animal's body."

The ad ends with the words "If this leaves a bad taste in your mouth – become a vegetarian."

Jack Cummer, the grandfather of Andrea Joesbury, one of the women Pickton is accused of killing, says he's horrified by the ad.

"That is the most disgusting thing I've heard in my whole life," he said.

The families of the victims say PETA is exploiting the tragedy to further its cause.

"It's unethical in and of itself. It angers me, but it also saddens me," said Ernie Cray, whose sister Dawn has been missing for two years.