This year’s Veggie Dog Giveaway comes with a two-piece salad
A different kind of green activist invaded Capitol Hill on Wednesday as reality television starlet Courtney Stodden wore a bikini made of artificial salad for the annual Congressional Veggie Dog Giveaway.
“It probably is a little different from what they’re used to seeing, someone in a suit,” Stodden told ITK with a laugh outside the Rayburn House Office Building.
The 19-year-old, a vegetarian who made headlines after marrying actor Doug Hutchison when she was 16, doled out dogs in her itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny green lettuce leaf bikini to support the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)-hosted event.
{mosads}The animal rights organization calls the yearly giveaway its “answer to the meat industry’s annual Hot Dog Lunch on National Hot Dog Day.”
“We’re here having fun but we’re also showing people that eating veggie dogs are actually healthier,” Stodden said. The VH1 “Couples Therapy” alum said of hot dogs made with pork, “Most people would probably lose their lunch if they saw what these pigs go through.”
A hoard of photographers surrounded the buxom Stodden as she posed for pics while dishing out veggie dogs. A line of congressional staffers could be seen stretching halfway down the block.
When ITK asked a trio of male House aides waiting in line if they were there for the free grub or to catch a glimpse of Sto
dden, they froze before answering in unison, “Both!” Another staffer was seen sheepishly asking Stodden for a photo (which she cheerfully granted) before retreating back to Rayburn, veggie dog in hand.
“I’ve never been to Washington, D.C.,” Stodden said. When we inquired whether she was interested in politics, she replied, “A little bit. I don’t really get that political to get honest with you. I try to stay out of it. [I’m] more into PETA.”
So will she go try to knock on lawmakers’ doors to try to meet any of them while in Washington?
“Maybe,” Stodden said with a high-pitched laugh, “in my lettuce bikini.”
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