Animal rights groups hope to encourage vegetarianism in college students with an advertisement slated to hit Champaign television next month.

A commercial called "Behind Closed Doors," sponsored by animal rights group Protecting Animals USA (PAUSA), which raises awareness of cruelty to animals in factory farms, will be asking people to become vegetarians and will offer a free vegetarian starter kit.

"It feels so good to enlighten people," said PAUSA President Danielle Marino, a recent University graduate.

Marino is also the creator of the registered student organization Students Improving the Lives of Animals (SILA).

The same commercial ran in Ohio, and Marino said its success there motivated her to bring it to Chicago, where it began running on Nov. 1.

"We've had such a positive response here in Chicago," Marino said. In the time it has run there, Marino said the organization received at least 140 requests for vegetarian starter kits and plenty of positive feedback.

"We've found that young people are really open to new ideas," Marino said, so PAUSA chose to run the commercial on MTV, VH1 and Animal Planet to reach the college audience.

"It does encourage people to go vegetarian," said SILA member Jonathan Fisher. Fisher based his opinion on the viewer response in other cities.

For those who will not be convinced to turn vegetarian, Fisher said he hopes the commercial will raise awareness about more humanely produced meats including those that are free-range produced. In free-range production, animals on farms are allowed space to roam instead of being kept in small cages. He also said the commercial will increase public tolerance toward vegetarians.

While Marino was a student at the University, she took a tour of the South Farms as part of a science class that got her motivated to become more vocal about animal rights.

"It's horrific. It's some of the worst memories I have — going in and taking a tour," Marino said. "That's why I was excited and really wanted to bring it to the U of I."

But Larry Berger, professor of animal sciences specializing in beef cattle, said animals are housed in a very humane way on the South Farms.

"If those animals were housed inhumanely, they would not be healthy and grow and perform in the way the owners expect them to, which would be negative from an economic standpoint," he said. "There is thought and care involved."

Tom Carr, professor of animal sciences, has worked with animals raised on the South Farms.

"It behooves everybody to treat animals appropriately," Carr said. "Anything that might stress an animal might have a negative effect on meat quality."

This would in turn impact the profitability of the producer, he said.

Berger said the farms meet all U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations and "are inspected on a regular basis by the Animal Care Committee on campus." He added that the South Farms are smaller in scale than factory farms, and the conditions that each species lives in each should be analyzed separately.

Still, Marino said the group plans to air the commercial as much as possible.

Fundraising for the commercial was spearheaded by SILA, which raised $700 in just two days by e-mail, Marino said. As of Wednesday, the total was $850, and they plan to receive all donations by Dec. 21.

Marino said the commercial will begin showing on Champaign television in January. It is also available at www.ProtectingAnimals.org.