PETA wants to memorialize 720 dead turkeys

“Drive Safely; Buckle Up: In Memory of the Hundreds of Terrified Turkeys Who Died Here in a Truck Crash.” That’s what the memorial would say that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to erect at the Deer Creek Reservoir in Utah near U.S. 189.

Hundreds — 720, to be exact — turkeys were killed in a truck accident on April 24 en route to Norbest Inc. to be turned into the main course. About two dozen survived.

Amy Meyer of Salt Lake City sent a request to the Utah Department of Transportation on behalf of PETA. The request is asking to overlook a policy requiring a written agreement with the family of the person who died, stating that factory-farm turkeys have no living relatives.

UDOT states the purpose of the memorials is “to provide an opportunity to recognize the needs of grieving families and friends in a way that is consistent with motorist safety and the Department’s operations.”

According to KSL, Meyer said, “It will also let commuters know that the best way to prevent these tragedies is to go vegan, sparing turkeys from spending their entire short lives mired in waste on factory farms and then being crammed into trucks for a terrifying trip to the slaughterhouse.”

This request follows two similar requests made earlier this month in New York and Iowa. None of the signs have been approved yet.

Contact Kristen DeSilva at kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kristendesilva