Horses Suffer Horrific Highway Crash on Way to Kill Barn

On March 1, 2017, a truck packed with 36 horses and a donkey ran off the road on Highway 82, near Greenville, Mississippi. Eleven horses were killed and seven were shot as a result of their horrific injuries. Fourteen horses and the donkey were rounded up and contained and three others who found freedom and were frolicking in a field were later captured to be transported to the Bastrop "kill barn," a term used for sell barns primarily dealing in horses for slaughter. The driver reported he was in route to the Bastrop, Louisiana from Murray, Kentucky. The horses were bound for the Bastrop sell barn.

The Bastrop "kill barn" is owned and operated by brothers, Mitch and Greg Stanley. The sell barn became infamous recently when a video thought to be taken by the Stanley's nephew, Boots Stanley, captured Boots encouraging his buddy, Steven Saddler, in playing a kill game with a gentle dog and ultimately slitting the dog's throat. Their court date is set for July 12, 2017. Mitch and Boots Stanley traveled to the scene of the accident to ensure all horses were returned. One was either given or sold to a volunteer who aided with the incident.

Federal Law requires semi drivers to be tested for sobriety following a wreck if they are cited or there is a fatality. The driver was not tested as law enforcement did not smell alcohol and the driver was not cited. The driver initially claimed a car pulled out in front of him causing him to lose control. The following day the sell barn posted a slanderous accusation that a known "animal rights activist" intentionally caused the accident. That preposterous claim was quickly squashed when the operators removed the post from their Facebook page after their post was widely circulated. In Defense of Animals' Justice for Animals Campaign has kept it circulating.

People worked throughout the night catching the surviving horses and trying to save the injured horses. It was reported that the driver sat in the police car. It was a harrowing experience for responders and volunteers. The last horse was "put down" at 6:00 a.m. even though the accident occurred before midnight. A local rescue contacted Mitch Stanley and offered to take the three loose horses and was told it wasn't a possibility, that the business had already sustained a $30,000 loss in the wreck. The Stanley's began asking for $20,000 in donations to save the surviving horses. Right!

In Defense of Animals will have more news of this incident as information becomes public.