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PETA billboard urges you to ‘Go Vegan’ near site of chicken truck crash in Gainesville

Sheriff: Truck carrying chickens overturns on busy highway; chickens scattered on roadway (Hall County Sheriff's Office/Hall County Sheriff's Office)

HALL COUNTY, Ga. — An animal rights group has placed a billboard near the site of a recent truck crash in Gainesville to honor the chickens who were injured or killed during three truck crashes over a five-day period.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) placed the billboard picturing a chicken and encouraging people to “Go Vegan” at 1791 Atlanta Highway in Gainesville.

On Friday, September 22, a truck carrying chickens overturned and blocked all northbound lanes of Athens Highway near A.L. Mangum Road, about a half-mile away from the site of the billboard.

The driver was treated for injuries at the crash scene.

Authorities did not say how many chickens were killed during the incident.

It took several hours for the crews to clean up the crash and gather the chickens that were still alive.

There were also similar crashes of trucks transporting chickens on Atlanta Highway in Gainesville on September 25, and in Claxton on September 27.

“The victims of these crashes died in agony, while the terrified survivors lived just long enough to be trucked off to a slaughterhouse,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to go vegan to stop this cruelty and get these deadly trucks off the streets.”