Billboard to Pay Tribute to Chickens Killed in Truck Fire

PETA Memorial Will Encourage People to Keep Animals Out of Transport Trucks by Going Vegan

For Immediate Release:
April 2, 2019

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

Bennington Township, Minn. – In honor of the chickens who died when the truck carrying them caught fire at the intersection of 770th Avenue and 180th Street in Bennington Township on March 28, PETA plans to place a billboard in the area showing a chicken’s face next to the words “I’m ME, Not MEAT. See the Individual. Go Vegan.

“The pain and fear that these trapped chickens must have felt as smoke and flames engulfed them is hard to imagine,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s billboard will remind people that the best way to prevent tragedies like this one is to help keep smart, sensitive chickens off the road in the first place by going vegan.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is the human-supremacist view that other species are commodities. Chickens killed for their flesh are crammed by the tens of thousands into filthy sheds and bred to grow such unnaturally large upper bodies that their legs often become crippled under the weight. At the slaughterhouse, their throats are cut, often while they’re still conscious, and many are scalded to death in defeathering tanks. Every person who goes vegan saves the lives of nearly 200 animals each year.

In 2018 alone, there were more than 90 accidents involving trucks used to transport chickens, pigs, turkeys, and cows in the U.S. In 2019, PETA has already noted more than 30 crashes involving trucks carrying animals used for food.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

For Media: Contact PETA's
Media Response Team.

Contact

Get PETA Updates

Stay up to date on the latest vegan trends and get breaking animal rights news delivered straight to your inbox!

By submitting this form, you’re acknowledging that you have read and agree to our privacy policy and agree to receive e-mails from us.

 Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind