Archive for the ‘Animal’ Category
Monkeys
On January 21, 2022 a trailer carrying 100 monkeys on I-80 in Danville, Pennsylvania collided with a dump truck spilling monkeys onto the roadway.
At least 4 monkeys got loose and were eventually captured. Unfortunately 3 of the monkeys had to be euthanized.
The cynomolgus monkeys can cost up to $10,000 each and are used in medical research.
Via The Guardian, Fox 59, and others
Goats
On September 19, 2021 a truck carrying goats and sheep overturned in Normal, Ill spilling farm animals which were running up and down interstate 55. The driver and all the animals were unharmed. Local farms and animal hospital came to the assistance of the animals and helped corral and herd them back into trailers.
Slime Eels
More than 7,000 pounds of hagfish, also known as slime eels, coated a section of Highway 101 with a gel described as “Spider-Man’s webbing crossed with a jellyfish.”
Source: Chain-Reaction Crash With Minor Injuries, Except for the Slime Eels
Pigs
On Sept 21, 2007, a truck carrying 160 pigs to a slaughterhouse overturned on I-215 in Las Vegas. 47 pigs died in the accident and most of the survivors were trapped inside for nearly three hours until another truck arrived to take the pigs and the truck could be uprighted. About a dozen pigs escaped through a crack in the roof of the trailer. Some injured pigs were euthanized at the scene.
AP
Goats
On July 6, a 32-foot long trailer truck carrying more than 400 goats crashed in San Rafael, Calif. 243 of the goats died. Apparently, the goats were in 4 levels of compartments, which collapsed during the crash.
Elliot Katz, DVM arrived soon after the crash and claimed that the police refused to open the trailer doors for fear of causing another traffic accident. This left the goats piled in the truck for over an hour.
IDA president Elliot Katz, DVM also arrived soon after the crash. “There was horrible screaming coming out of the truck from all the animals suffocating under the weight of others,” he said. Still, police refused to open the trailer doors for fear of causing another traffic accident. Meanwhile, hundreds of goats suffered inside for almost a full hour, piled one on top of another, slowly and painfully asphyxiating to death, before the doors were opened.
The goats were owned by Goats R Us, who rents them out to graze and clear away brush which can ignite in hot weather and start fires.
“Those goats didn’t have die,” said Terri Oyarzun, owner of Goats R Us, the company which “owns” the goats and rents them out to graze and clear away dry brush, which can ignite in hot weather and start fires. Oyarzun had herding dogs on hand, so the goats could have been corralled away from traffic, but police ignored her objections and kept the doors locked.
Some of the surviving goats were found grazing on lawns nearby.
Several IDA staff members and other onlookers also soon gathered at the scene, and stood shocked and appalled behind yellow police tape as they witnessed the carnage. Bystanders watched officials pull both living and dead goats from the trailer wreck, then stack the victims’ mangled corpses ten-deep in the street. Eventually, officials let Dr. Katz assist with rescuing the still-living goats from among the piles of dead and dying. Ultimately, there were about 150 survivors, some of whom were found grazing on lawns in the neighborhood nearby.
The driver and passengers were not injured.
From the IDA website, which is an organization dedicated to protecting the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals. Their site gives a somewhat more political account of the accident.
Live Chickens
Why did 3,000 chickens cross the road? (Insert your own punchline here)
On October 12, 2007, 3,000 chickens were being transported on the A-80, one of Scotland’s busiest roads. The lorry jack-knifed near Castlecary, spilling chickens everywhere.
The driver was treated for back injuries. 400 chickens died in the accident, or later from their injuries. Traffic backed-up for five miles and the A-80 was closed for hours.
Thousands of chickens escaped from their crates and flocked on the road and nearby.
Feathers were everywhere.
Police spent five hours trying to catch the birds. Officers also took down the license numbers of drivers that were using their cell phones to take photos of them as they chased the chickens. They reported that 20 drivers will be charged with using a cell phone while driving.
Chicken Handlers from Noble Foods and Veterinarians arrived to help. One Vet estimated that she had to put down about 80 chickens with broken wings and legs.
The survivors were eventually put back in their crates and taken to a processing plant where they were slaughtered as planned. Not a good day for the chickens.
Bunnies
Hair-raising accident. (Yes, I really did say that.) On April 16, 2007 a truck carrying 5,000 bunnies to a slaughterhouse overturned in Hungary. The accident closed the main highway between the capitals of Hungary and Austria for hours. The vehicle carrying the bunnies was struck by another truck when that driver fell asleep. Most of the rabbits were hopping around the freeway, but some stayed in their broken cages. Unfortunately, about 500 rabbits were killed (in the accident, the rest were killed later). The good news is that about 100 bunnies hopped away and were not captured.
MSNBC
Bees
A truck carrying 12 million honeybees hit a wall on a highway ramp on December 15, 2004. The truck was carrying 480 bee colonies to California to polinate the almond crop when it hit a wall sending the bees toppling over the wall. The bees swarmed on a post below for the overpass. The Las Vegas Fire Department doused the bees with water to kill them. You’d probably be surprised to know how many bees are transported around the country every day. They are critical to polinate many crops including fruits, vegetables, flowers and nuts. Without them we wouldn’t have enough food.
On September 18, 2007, a trailer hauling more than 450 beehives ran off the road and overturned on I-94 near Huntley, Wyoming. There were as many as 13.7 million bees in the truck and thousands were freed in the accident.
The freed bees swarmed in the area. Firefighters had to suit-up in protective gear before being able to free the driver. Several rescuers were stung. As the temperature dropped through the evening, the bees calmed down and beekeepers from the area assisted as they returned to their hives.
The driver said he swerved to avoid a reckless driver, but a witness reported that the truck was alone in it’s lane at the time and simply swerved off the freeway.
Incidentially, the bee population in the US is under attack from many sources right now. More than a quarter of the US bee colonies have been lost. This is tens of billions of bees. Bees are being lost to mites, suburban sprawl, and a new problem called Colony Collapse Disorder. Colony Collapse Disorder is a recent threat in which bees simply vanish from their hive, sometimes leaving just a queen and a few workers. The strange thing is that none of the creatures that would normally take over a hive and eat all the honey are seen in the abandoned hives. Nobody yet knows what is causing the problem, although theories range from genetically modified crops, cell phone towers, high-voltage transmission lines, and terrorists. One interesting theory is “Bee Rapture”, in which God has recalled them to heaven.
With fewer bees, beekeepers are transporting bees more often, and farther to polinate crops.