there's going to be a lot of sadness in Benderville

[Mo]

243 goats die after big-rig overturns in San Rafael
Jim Staats
Article Launched: 07/07/2007 12:10:03 AM PDT

More than 240 goats were killed Friday morning when a big-rig carrying them tipped over in San Rafael's Canal area.

Many of the animals, en route to clear vegetation in Mill Valley, suffocated when the rig overturned near Irene Street on "The Loop" traffic route, police said.

The truck, owned by Orinda-based Goats R Us, was transporting about 400 animals from Milpitas to the Golden Gate Theological Seminary when the driver pulled off the freeway for a cup of coffee, police said.

Onlookers watched in horror as officials pulled twisted carcasses from the tipped metal trailer sprawled on Kerner Boulevard near Irene Street. Dead goats were spread across the road about 10 deep beside the tipped vehicle as emergency service officials spent more than an hour digging through the piles of animals, many pinned under loose metal shelves.

About two dozen goats were found grazing in the neighborhood and rounded up, but others dispersed throughout the area; Marin Humane Society officials were still rounding up stray goats late Friday afternoon. The goats had burst from the truck after the accident and before a rear door was secured.

A distraught Terri Oyarzun, owner of the company that supplies livestock for brush-clearing throughout the Bay Area, was restrained by officials as she watched her goats pulled from the wreckage.

"Had I known what happened, I would have told them to open the doors and let them all free," Oyarzun said, clearly shaken as she recognized a tri-colored goat among the dead.

San Rafael police Sgt. Mike Vergara said the truck may have been going too fast while making a left turn onto Kerner Boulevard. It tipped over, perhaps as the weight of goats shifted in the truck.

The animals were stacked four deep in tiered shelving units in the 13-foot-tall truck. The steel shelves separating the animals were strewn through the wreckage.

Officials from the Marin Humane Society, San Rafael Police Department, San Rafael Fire Department, California Highway Patrol, San Rafael Public Works and Marin Sanitary Service converged after the accident was reported at 8:45 a.m.

Oyarzun said the vehicle had been transporting more than 400 goats, all 1 to 2 years old, in the 32-foot-long, livestock trailer. The goats are known as Spanish goats and are valued at $150 each, she said, making the total animal loss $36,450.

Elliot Katz, founder of In Defense of Animals and one of three veterinarians assisting at the scene, said most of the goats died from suffocation.

"It's sad, but when the goats freak out, the ones on top basically smothered the ones below them," he said.

Katz said the tight quarters are a necessity in transporting the animals. "You can't give the animals too much room to run or they're more likely to hurt themselves," he said.

The horrific scene took its toll on Marin Humane Society officials.

Humane Society Sgt. Michelle Rogers, among the crew digging through wreckage, said 243 dead goats were pulled out of the tipped truck.

"I need a moment," she said, stepping away to compose herself.

Neither the driver, Ed Gibson, or a passenger were injured in the accident. A bystander was taken to Marin General Hospital with minor head injuries suffered when he tried to prevent goats from escaping from the truck.

Gibson, 62, of Pittsburg, said he could feel a tire give out and thought the animals may have shifted to one side as he made the turn.

Scott Banfield of San Rafael, superintendent for a nearby construction company, saw the truck tip over and said the scene unfolded as if in slow motion.

"I watched as first the nose of the truck went down, and the rest of the trailer followed suit," he said.

Banfield said he watched dozens of goats flee from the back of the truck before authorities could seal it up.

Emily Cookson, an employee of a nearby marketing firm, spotted 18 goats grazing on vegetation in surrounding business parks. She said she saw another half-dozen goats exit through the trailer's busted rear door, pushing their way through officials trying to restrain them.

Two injured goats were taken to the shelter at the Marin Humane Society and the remaining 155 were transported to their Golden Gate Seminary destination.

Carcasses of dead animals were piled in a Dumpster and taken to Petaluma for disposal.

http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_6319812

[Haole]

I didn't know that there was a Goats-R-Us.

[Pazuzu]

They were for Bender's secret birthday party.

Now the secret is gone

[santa]

The canal is the slums of Marin. They probably had to beat the residents back to keep them from scavaging. Some of those goats will never be found

[trampas]

Originally Posted by Haole

I didn't know that there was a Goats-R-Us.

Fella should have his head examined who came up with that gem.

Marin County aint done with this little fiasco.

Suffocated ten deep.

[CSmith]

"...and the remaining 155 were transported to their Golden Gate Seminary destination."

WTF does a seminary do that requires goats? Some kind of ritual? Does it also require virgins?

[Co Pilot]

that is sad.

[ironpig70]

i smell a bar b que

[santa]

Originally Posted by CSmith

"...and the remaining 155 were transported to their Golden Gate Seminary destination."

WTF does a seminary do that requires goats? Some kind of ritual? Does it also require virgins?

They use them to clear the fields/mow the grass, but if you had read the whole article you would have caught that

[CSmith]

Originally Posted by santa

They use them to clear the fields/mow the grass, but if you had read the whole article you would have caught that

Yeah, but I didn't.

[santa]

Originally Posted by CSmith

Yeah, but I didn't.

You suck at the reading, it's the second fawking sentence

[CSmith]

Originally Posted by santa

You suck...blah,blah,blah ...fawking sentence

Eh. I usually skim over what I read.

[trampas]

Originally Posted by CSmith

Eh. I usually skim over what I read.

yesm, in this case you skimmed over what you DIDN'T read.

[Jeepskickass]

That was the surprise birthday entertainment for Bender's party!

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by Jeepskickass

That was the surprise birthday entertainment for Bender's party!

Thanks for being 2 hours late with the bad joke

[RedBullJeep]

The REAL story!

[ChiefSlapaHo]

http://www.goatsrus.com/