Cows’ Deaths in Semi Crash in Downtown Vegas Prompt PETA Highway Memorial Urging Empathy

For Immediate Release:
February 6, 2026

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

In remembrance of the nearly two dozen cows who died after the truck carrying them rolled over on a freeway ramp from Interstate 15 to Interstate 11 in downtown Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, PETA plans to place a memorial billboard near the accident site that proclaims, in part, “If Everyone Were Vegan, It Wouldn’t Have Happened.”

“Cows died in agony and terror because of this crash, and the few traumatized survivors were hauled off, presumably to face the slaughterhouse knife,” says PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to please go vegan to keep cows out of semis and slaughterhouses in the first place.”

Cows have friends and mourn when a loved one dies or when they’re separated from each other. Yet every year, millions are trucked to slaughterhouses, where workers shoot them in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throat—often while they’re still conscious. Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint, and reduces their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.