To memorialize the cows who were killed when the truck carrying them overturned on I-41 en route to the JBS slaughterhouse on Tuesday morning, PETA plans to place a sky-high message near the site, reminding everyone that the crash victims were thinking, feeling individuals.

“At least four cows died in terror and agony because of this crash, and the survivors were reportedly ‘agitated and afraid’ as they were hauled off, presumably for workers to slit their throats and carve up their bodies at the slaughterhouse,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to help keep cows out of trucks and slaughterhouses in the first place by going vegan.”

In 2023 alone, there were at least 72 documented animal-transport truck crashes. Millions of cows were trucked to slaughterhouses, where workers shoot cows in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throat—often while they’re still conscious. Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint, and reduces their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.