The mayor of Caldwell, Idaho, has told the animal-rights activist group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, there was "no way" and "no chance" he would rename a local county road at PETA's request, even if it were within his power to do so.

What are the details?

Last week, PETA took the time to send a letter to Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas, asking him to change the name of Chicken Dinner Road to "one that celebrates chickens as individuals, not as beings to kill, chop up, and label as 'dinner.'"

PETA issued a news release announcing its correspondence with Nancolas, and on Twitter the same day, the group called out Boise, Idaho, for the road's "speciesist" name. The group suggested renaming the road to simply, "Chicken Road."



As it turns out, after PETA named and shamed the Caldwell mayor and the city of Boise, neither would have any say in the road's renaming, since Chicken Dinner Road is a rural route under the authority of Canyon County.

Nonetheless, Mayor Nancolas responded to PETA's request via Facebook, saying, "When I first received the letter, I thought it was a joke, I literally laughed! When I realized the letter was for real, it made me extremely irritated that they would waste our time with such a ridiculous request!!"

"If they had actually done their homework they would have realized that Chicken Dinner Road is not even within Caldwell's jurisdiction," Nancolas continued, "that being said, even if it was, NO WAY, NO CHANCE I would ever consider this truly unbelievable request!! We have many issues to consider, but this IS NOT one of them!"



A spokesman for Canyon County told KTVB-TV that it is "very unlikely" the commission would consider taking up PETA's request for Chicken Dinner Road to be renamed.

Anything else?

KTVB asked around to see what locals thought of PETA's suggestion, and couldn't find anyone who believed it was a good idea. To the contrary, several nearby residents voiced adamant opposition to changing the name of the road, which is widely considered "iconic" in the area.

One local who spoke to the station was the manager of Huston Winery, who said of PETA's request, "My initial response was, 'Wow, somebody's got a lot of time on their hands."