A semi-truck loaded with hundreds of live chickens crashed near the intersection of Interstate 5 and Highway 101 early Monday.
The animal rights group PETA wants to pay tribute to chickens killed in a tractor-trailer crash on Interstate 5 this week in Olympia with a billboard near the crash site encouraging people to become vegan.
The northbound tractor-trailer was hauling live chickens early Monday morning when it lost control and struck the jersey barrier, knocking down a street light. The crash happened near Eastside Street Southeast in Olympia.
After the crash, dead chickens lined the roadway, though Washington State Patrol reported some survived the crash.
“This crash left countless birds dead or mangled on the highway, and the survivors who couldn’t escape will presumably end up under the slaughterhouse knife,” PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien said in a news release.
A PETA representative said it hopes to put up the billboard — showing a chicken’s face next to the words “I’m ME, Not MEAT. See the Individual. Go Vegan” — as soon as possible.
That could be easier said than done. The Washington State Department of Transportation does not allow billboards on state land next to the freeway, said WSDOT spokesman Doug Adamson; other property near the crash site is owned by the city of Olympia.
According to PETA, there were more than 90 crashes involving trucks transporting animals in 2018 and more than a dozen so far in 2019.
