CERES, Calif. — After a chicken house fire killed more than a quarter million chickens, animal welfare group PETA is planning a memorial to honor the chickens.
About 280,000 chickens died after a fire broke out at a chicken house near Ceres in Stanislaus County on April 23. The chicken house was owned by Gemperle Farms.
The firefight lasted hours, but the effort from crews wasn't enough to save any of the chickens from the blaze.
PETA said it is planning to put up a billboard memorial to honor the chickens and point who they believe is responsible: "everyone who hasn't gone vegan."
The organization released a design of the billboard that reads: "In Memory of the Chickens Killed Nearby in a Fire. If Everyone Were Vegan, It Wouldn't Have Happened."
"Each of these birds was an individual who felt pain and fear as smoke and flames engulfed them," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in a statement. "PETA urges everyone to practice kindness to sensitive birds—as well as pigs, cows, and other animals—by going vegan."
It's not the first time the organization has proposed a memorial for chickens in the area. Back in 2016, the organization announced a 5-foot-tall tombstone memorial for chickens killed in a rollover by Turlock.
The crash left chickens and cages spread across the road.
The language for the planned roadside tombstone was fairly similar: "In Memory of the Chicken Who Suffered and Died at This Spot, August 2016. Try Vegan."
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