Roadside Memorial Sought for Chickens Killed in Truck Crash

PETA-Funded Sign Would Urge Saskatchewan Drivers to Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
June 3, 2015

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

In the wake of a tractor-trailer crash on Highway 5 between Wadena and Kylemore—which claimed the lives of hundreds of chickens—on May 26, a PETA activist rushed a letter this afternoon to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure calling on authorities to head off future disasters with a new roadside memorial, funded by PETA, commemorating the crushed and asphyxiated birds. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—hopes the memorial will offer food for thought to Saskatchewan motorists.

As local PETA activist John Jessome points out in his letter, “This tribute will let commuters know that the best way to prevent tragedies such as this one is to go vegan, because chickens shouldn’t have to make terrifying trips to factory farms and slaughterhouses at all.” Jessome concludes that “The memorial would also help prevent future accidents and make the roads safer for everyone by reminding tractor-trailer drivers of their responsibility to the thousands of animals they haul every year as well as to the motorists whose lives are endangered when a tractor-trailer crashes.”

Animals raised for food are typically crowded onto trucks and transported many miles through all weather extremes, often without food or water, to the slaughterhouse. Those who survive this nightmarish journey have their throats slit, often while they’re still conscious. Many are still alive when they’re plunged into the scalding-hot water of the defeathering or hair-removal tanks or while they’re being skinned or hacked apart.

PETA activist John Jessome’s letter to Provincial Sign Coordinator Charlie Matt is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.