‘Hell on Wheels’ Chicken Truck Is Missing—Up to $5,000 Reward Offered to Find the PETA Vehicle

For Immediate Release:
July 6, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the recovery of the group’s “Hell on Wheels” life-size chicken transport truck, which appears to have been stolen from the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood on the night of Monday, July 3, or the morning of Tuesday, July 4. A police report has been filed. PETA will also provide a year’s supply of an array of delicious vegan chicken to tipsters whose information leads to the truck’s location.

The 2016 Ford E-350 Super Duty Box Truck—with Virginia license plate number VHA5528—is hard to miss: It’s white and covered with images of real chickens crammed into crates on their way to a slaughterhouse. The group is on a tour, driving the truck to cities around the U.S., where it has circled eateries blasting actual recorded sounds of the birds’ cries and a subliminal message every 10 seconds suggesting that people go vegan. The cab has large decals that read, “Hell on Wheels,” with a logo of a chef holding a dead chicken.

“The ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck encourages people to go vegan by showing them the horrific suffering endured by birds destined for slaughter, and for it to have vanished is extremely upsetting,” says PETA Vice President Tracy Reiman. “If you know who took the truck or where it may be, PETA wants to hear from you so we can get our lifesaving message back on the road.”

“Hell on Wheels” was in the Portland area to honor the hundreds of birds who died after a transporter carrying them overturned on I-5—prompting PETA and Direct Action Everywhere to report to the scene and rescue one lucky bird survivor.

Tips can be submitted to [email protected] or by calling the Portland Police Bureau at 503-823-0000 using case number 23-175631.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.