State says no thanks to PeTA cow monument
By Ray Bowman
(First appeared in the August 18, 2016 edition of The Farmer’s Pride)
Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, while working in the Obama White House, once stated “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) was perhaps following that advice when they recently sent a letter seeking permission to locate a memorial alongside a Kentucky Interstate.
On the morning of August 4, 2016 a tractor-trailer loaded with 116 head of cattle overturned on I-71 in Henry County. Regrettably, seven cows died of injuries related to the accident. No human injury occurred.
PeTA is petitioning the state for approval to erect a 5-foot-tall tombstone memorial at the accident site.
The Kentucky Department of Transportation didn’t think that was such a good idea.
“The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet strives to be sensitive to parties who seek to place roadside memorials on state highways,” read a response from the Cabinet’s public affairs director Ryan Watts, in response to an inquiry by The Farmer’s Pride.
The statement continued “However, these memorials — as well as signs, advertising or other installations — that appear on roadsides from time-to-time are not legal encroachments on the state’s right of way. Such objects are not allowed because they can impede vision, become a driver distraction, or present a safety hazard to motorists, mowing crews and others if struck. Like any encroachment, the Transportation Cabinet must address them on a case by case basis, recognizing that we don’t have a dedicated staff to solely and immediately respond to these matters. In setting priorities for addressing all right of way encroachments, we give consideration to issues such as highway safety, maintenance needs, aesthetics and citizen complaints.”
“For their own safety and for the safety of the traveling public,” the statement concluded “we ask that people refrain from placing objects on rights of way. We would encourage PETA supporters to find alternative ways to remember the animals lost in the recent I-71 crash.”
In April of 2015, 100 pigs died in an accident along the same stretch of highway.
Similar requests -some successful – have been made by the animal activist organization in the past. Just days before the Kentucky request was received, another letter asked the Ontario, Canada Ministry of Transportation to allow a similar marker to be placed at the site of a crash that caused a trailer carrying 40 head of cattle to tip over on its side. Two animals died in that accident.
In November 2013, a sign was erected near the site of a crash in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin commemorating the October 15 rollover of a transport trailer where 5 animals died.
At the bottom of each of the proposed marker is the phrase “Try Vegan,” which presents the question of whether the requests are out of genuine concern for animals or simply to promote an agenda.
In either case, it would appear the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet chose in its decision to focus on the safety and welfare of motorists using the thoroughfare.