Thousands of live chickens spilled from their crates onto the state Thruway yesterday when a truck carrying nearly 10,000 of them overturned at the Route 190 off-ramp in Erie County. WBTA's Dan Fischer spoke with state police who said they had never seen anything like it. Dozens Thousands of chickens were killed. Many others were taken to the Erie County Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty. The truck driver was ticketed with unsafe lane change.
UPDATE (9:18am): The Buffalo News ran a full story on this sad crash—the photographs and video are unsettling. It turns out that not dozens but thousands of chickens died, either at the scene or later by euthanization. From that article:
Gina Browning, the public relations director of the SPCA in the Town of Tonawanda, described a grim scene of blood and broken eggs inside the SPCA facility.
“In 18 years [working at the SPCA], I can tell you I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude,” Browning said.
The facility closed 2 hours early to make room for the birds. SPCA officials used the auditorium and the garage to fit all the crates.
“It’s mortifying,” employee Julie Ruppel said. “It’s unimaginable what we’re seeing.”
In other news, Batavia's Rotary Club will be holding auditions for its upcoming musical production of Singing in the Rain. Auditions for the November performance will be held on September 3, 4 and 5 in the Batavia High School from 7:00 to 10:00pm.
