A Transport Truck Full Of Live Chickens Rolled Over On The QEW (VIDEO)
Animal activists are calling for an investigation.
OPP reporting from the scene. Right: Crates of chickens on the truck.
Emergency crews were called upon to help after a transport truck loaded with chickens rolled over on the QEW highway this week.
According to OPP Highway Safety Division, the commercial vehicle rolled over westbound near Third Line in Oakville, shutting down three of its lanes for the majority of Tuesday morning.
\u201cCommercial vehicle rollover #QEW westbound at #Thirdline in #Oakville. Cleanup approx 3 hours,will continue to update.left shoulder only getting through. ^kw\u201d— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP Highway Safety Division) 1660049001
Officers reported that traffic could only get through on the left shoulder, causing significant delays as crews worked through the hours-long clean-up.
OPP believes that speed was a factor in the accident and the truck's driver has been charged.
Clean continues #QEW westbound @ #Thirdline. Please be patient if traveling in the area. Estimated to re-open by 11am. ^kw pic.twitter.com/Dmf48ebrT3
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) August 9, 2022
Animal Justice, a national animal law non-profit, later took to Twitter to criticize the police's handling of the situation while calling for an "animal cruelty investigation."
"The survivors would have experienced distress from the shock and sustained injuries from the crash itself," their statement reads.
"Animal Justice is filing a complaint with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and local authorities, requesting that these agencies investigate the circumstances which led to this tragic accident and address the suffering endured by the chickens as a result of the crash," it adds.
CityNews reporter Carl Hanstke also shared a clip of workers unloading by hand plastic cages full of chickens and stacking them on the highway.
OPP released an update at around 11:00 a.m., confirming that all lanes had been reopened.