Chicken truck crash closes parts of Rymal Road East
Animal rights groups are outraged following the crash of a transport truck loaded with chickens in Hamilton on Friday morning, the second such crash in two weeks, saying the method used to move the birds are inhumane.
The transport truck fell over around 8 a.m. on Friday while navigating a near Rymal Road and Terryberry Road. In what police spokesperson Jackie Penman called a bit of freak accident," two of the truck's tires popped while making the turn and the truck fell onto its side.
The top of the trailer was torn off in the fall, exposing the plastic chicken crates. However, Penman said it does not appear that any of the birds escaped their confines.
No people were hurt in the crash, but it is not clear if birds were hurt or killed. Photos of the crash show the transport's trailer was packed with dozens of small bird cages stacked tightly into the compartment. The feet of several of the birds were sticking out of the cages, but their condition was not known.
From where I was, it appeared there may have been more dead birds than live ones," said Adrienne George of the organization Animal Save Movement. George said the group, which wants to see an end to animal farming, tries to document incidents of harm to livestock animals and she was there to record the aftermath of the crash.
There is no humane way to move these birds," George said, saying such cramped conditions in the transport is inherently stressful for the animals.
In an emailed statement, Camille Labchuk, the executive director of Animal Justice, said the conditions the birds were being transported in were unacceptable."
Labchuk called on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to launch a review of the safety of animals during transportation in Canada.
Transporters are seldom held accountable for the deaths and suffering of animals who are regularly killed in truck crashes," her statement said.
She also pointed to another recent chicken truck crash last week as an example of the unsafe transportation of animals. On Aug. 9, a chicken truck crashed on a westbound QEW on-ramp near Third Line. There were no injuries in that crash either.
Police closed the road around the crash for cleanup. Only one lane was open on Rymal for traffic in both directions. Penman said crews from the transport were at the scene to move the chickens to another truck.
She could not immediately say who owned the chickens or the truck, or if any of the birds has perished in the crash.
Grant LaFleche is an investigative reporter with The Spectator. Reach him via email: glafleche@torstar.ca