Roadside Memorial Sought for Chickens Killed in Texas Truck Accident

PETA Monument Would Urge Drivers in Barbecue-Loving State to Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
October 9, 2014

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

As reported in the Houston Chronicle, in a state famous for barbecue, PETA is proposing a roadside marker that urges residents to stop eating chickens altogether. The group is seeking a memorial to the chickens killed on September 30 when a truck carrying the animals to a Bryan, Texas, farm overturned at the intersection of U.S. 21 and FM 2818. Karla Waples, a Texas resident and PETA staffer, has applied to the Texas Department of Transportation (TDOT) on PETA’s behalf and asked for permission to erect a 10-foot-tall memorial tombstone for one month for the chickens killed in the crash. Waples and PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—hope the memorial will offer food for thought to Texas motorists.

“This tribute will let commuters in Texas, where menus are overrun by fried and barbecued meats, know that the best way to prevent tragedies such as this one is to go vegan,” Waples wrote in her letter to TDOT. “[C]hickens, cows, turkeys, and pigs shouldn’t have to make terrifying trips to slaughterhouses at all.”

“Chickens in the meat industry have their beaks cut off, are left to languish in filthy sheds, are crammed onto severely crowded transport trucks, and finally have their throats slit in terrifying slaughterhouses,” says PETA Associate Director of Campaigns Lindsay Rajt. “PETA’s proposed memorial would remind the public of these sensitive animals’ miserable lives and would encourage people to stop eating chickens. At the very least, it would remind motorists to be more alert and help prevent future devastating crashes.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.