PETA wants highway memorials to cows killed in wrecks

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Updated: February 3, 2012 8:08AM

An animal rights group wants Illinois to install highway signs in memory of cattle that died when trucks hauling them flipped in two separate wrecks.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to buy the markers, one in suburban Hazel Crest and one northwest of Peoria. PETA’s Dec. 15 request to the Illinois Department of Transportation contends the signs would pay tribute to the more than 20 head of cattle killed as a result of negligent driving in Illinois in 2011.

The request likely will be denied, IDOT spokesman Josh Kauffman said. The state’s Roadside Memorial Act specifies that only relatives who lost loved ones in highway crashes may request memorials, he said.

PETA campaign coordinator Tracy Patton of Arlington Heights, who wrote the letter seeking the markers, wants the department to disregard that requirement.

“Because there are no surviving family members for animals in the meat trade, we ask that you waive this requirement of the program and allow concerned Illinois citizens like me to apply in lieu of a relative,” she wrote.

In Illinois, relatives of people killed in crashes caused by reckless driving can pay $200 for an official roadside marker if they agree not to place flowers, photos, teddy bears or other items at crash sites. State officials say such makeshift memorials can distract drivers. AP