Vegans Will Hold A Vigil For Chickens Killed In Queensland Truck Crash

There were fears thousands of chickens might have been killed when a truck carrying crates of the birds tipped over in Queensland.

A total of 3,744 chickens were tightly packed in the semi-trailer crashed in west of Brisbane near the top fo the Toowoomba range.

While firefighters did their best to save as many as possible, the Courier Mail says hundreds were killed or injured.

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Even though there are millions, if not billions, of chickens that are killed every week around the world for human consumption, this sudden and tragic event has sparked devastation in the vegan community.

As a result, animal activist group Vegans in Toowoomba will hold a vigil this weekend to recognise the mass death.

Member Mo Orr has told the Courier Mail: "There was the devastating scene of a crashed chicken truck with hundreds of distressed and deceased birds on their way to slaughter.

"Vegans in Toowoomba members were on the scene, with the knowledge that Farm Animal Rescue would give homes to some birds in a habitat purpose built for the special needs of broilers.

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"Vets in Toowoomba were ready to care for the birds overnight until we could take them to sanctuary. Instead they were thrown unceremoniously into bins, some clearly still alive.

"Their right to rescue was denied."

She says they weren't permitted to help during the clean up and believe they could have saved more chickens.

"I'm sad but not surprised at the lack of compassion shown. These animals, all animals, are worthy of our moral consideration, yet they were shown no mercy," she said.

7News

People who are similarly devastated are encouraged to arrive at the place when the truck rolled over and the vigil will take place between 9.30am to 10.30am. People going to the event are encouraged to bring flowers.

Firefighters who attended the scene when it happened told Channel 7 that they had never had to rescue chickens before, only cattle.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services' Peter McCarron told the network: "It's quite a mess and it's very hot."

The driver of the truck was assessed at the scene and thankfully didn't suffer any serious injuries.

Topics: News, Animals, Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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