In honour of the pigs who died in agony after the truck carrying them caught fire due to a mechanical problem on North Talbot Road east of the 8th Concession Road in Tecumseh on February 6, PETA plans to place a sky-high memorial near the accident site pointing out who’s responsible for their deaths: everyone who isn’t vegan.

“Each of these pigs was an individual who died in pain and terror, engulfed by smoke and flames,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to prevent pigs from being crammed into trucks in the first place by taking the easy step of going vegan.”

PETA points out that pigs are playful, intelligent, friendly animals who are soothed by music, love playing ball, sleep in “pig piles,” and even enjoy getting massages. In the meat industry, workers chop off piglets’ tails, clip their teeth with pliers, and castrate the males. Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year; reduces their own risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity; and dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint. 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”— points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.