PETA Seeks Roadside Memorial for Turkeys Killed in Utah Truck Crash

Monument Would Serve as a Reminder to Motorists to Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
May 1, 2014

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

On April 24, a truck hauling 720 turkeys to slaughter crashed and fell into the Deer Creek Reservoir, killing nearly 700 of the terrified birds, many of whom drowned. PETA campaigner and Utah resident Amy Meyer has sent a letter on PETA’s behalf to Teri Newell, Region Three director of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), asking permission to erect a memorial to the turkeys at the crash site. The memorial would read, “Drive Safely; Buckle Up: In Memory of the Hundreds of Terrified Turkeys Who Died Here in a Truck Crash.” Although Utah normally requires a family member of the deceased to file the application, Meyer explains that there are no living relatives of animals in the factory-farming industry.

“The memorial will cut down on 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 [truck] crashes,” writes Meyer, who was the first person in the country charged under an “ag-gag” law after she collected video footage of the Dale T. Smith & Sons Meat Packing Co. in Draper, Utah, from the side of the road. “It will also let commuters know that the best way to prevent these tragedies is to go vegan, sparing turkeys from spending their entire short lives mired in waste on factory farms and then being crammed into trucks for a terrifying trip to the slaughterhouse.”

Once they reach the slaughterhouse, turkeys face a painful and terrifying death.

Meyer’s letter to UDOT is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.