The sign is the latest move by animal rights activists following the accident on June 25
BATTLE GROUND — The animal rights group PETA said Monday it plans to erect a billboard along SR-502 where a truck loaded with live chickens tipped over last week.
The billboard will feature the picture of a chicken, next to the words “I’m ME, Not MEAT. See the Individual. Go Vegan.”
“This devastating crash left countless birds dead or mangled on the side of the road, and those who survived presumably ended up under the slaughterhouse knife,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in a statement released by the group. “PETA’s billboard would remind all motorists that the best way to prevent these tragedies is to keep smart, sensitive chickens off the road in the first place by going vegan.”
Local animal rights activists showed up at the scene of the crash, often cradling the chickens while clean up crews worked around them. At least one person was arrested. The activists later returned to erect dozens of small white crosses in honor of the chickens who died.
The truck was loaded with at least five-thousand chickens, headed for the Foster Farms plant in Longview. The driver was cited for making an illegal U-turn at the intersection.
Foster Farms notes such accidents are rare, but PETA claims in their release that they’re aware of more than 50 crashes this year alone involving animal transport trucks in the United States.
The PETA release did not indicate how soon the billboard would be in place.
Our previous story about the overturned truck:
