A truck transporting chickens to the abattoir rolled over on a highway near Lismore on November 27, with local animal activists reportedly getting into an altercation with authorities while trying to rescue survivors.
The Northern Star reported a truck rolled over on the Bruxner Highway at Goonellabah just before 7am. While the driver suffered no serious injuries, yellow crates filled with up to 6,000 chickens were strewn across the road. While many were seen wandering the road, others were killed in the impact.
Volunteers from local shelter Sugarshine FARM Sanctuary, which takes in rescued farm animals, arrived at the crash site and said they were horrified to see the dead birds. While trying to help the chickens, a volunteer said she was confronted by officers who accused her of breaching a bio-hazard area.
While emergency and animal rescue crews continued clean-up and rescue, they allowed a volunteer to take one of the chickens on the condition they leave the area. The chicken, whom they named Clarabelle, was at time of publication in the care of the volunteers. The teenage volunteers remained a “bit shaken up” by the scenes they witnessed. Credit: Facebook/Sugarshine FARM Sanctuary via Storyful
