Draft horses killed in double-deck trailer designed for cattle, pigs

46 horses killed in wreck, trailer designed for cattle, pigs

The Associated Press

10/29/2007

WADSWORTH, Ill. — Illinois State Police and animal rights activists are attempting to learn why 59 Belgian draft horses were being transported in a double-deck trailer designed to haul cattle and pigs.

And the fate of the 46 horses that survived the trailer's weekend wreck in Lake County remained unclear early Monday.

Firefighters and dozens of volunteers worked for more than five hours Saturday night to free the horses from the wreckage after the trailer collided with a pickup truck at an intersection on U.S. Highway 41 in Wadsworth, officials and volunteers said.

"Picture a narrow trailer, slippery as snot, a dangerous cavern filled with horses piled on top of each other, some of them kicking dangerously," said Colleen Fisch, the coordinator for horse enthusiasts in Wisconsin who helped with the rescue. "They were all in sections too small for horses."

At least 13 of the animals died in the crash or had to be put down because of injuries, authorities and volunteers said.

"The scene was chaotic," said Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Curt Gregory.

The horses, most of which appeared to be yearlings, were being transported from Indiana to Minnesota at the time, Gregory said.

Gregory said the surviving animals were taken to an area farm, but he declined to say which one.

When stable owner Scott Golladay heard of the accident, he knew the scene would be horrendous, but he said nothing could prepare him for what he saw once he arrived to help. The huge, horse-filled truck was lying sideways across the highway, and he could hear the animals kicking and screaming.

"It was God awful," said Golladay, owner of Scott Golladay Stables in Antioch. "I've been in the horse business for over 35 years and this was, by far, the most horrific thing I have ever seen."

Neither driver suffered serious injuries in the Saturday evening accident.

The driver of the pickup, Larry Hanlin, 67, of Libertyville, was treated and released from an area hospital; and the driver of the semi, 34-year-old James Anderson of McLeod, N.D., declined treatment at the scene, Gregory said.

Anderson received traffic citations for running a red light and for failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, Gregory said.

Police said late Sunday they were still uncertain who owns the horses.

Before he flew back to North Dakota, Anderson told investigators he had been transporting the horses from Indiana to an auction near Minneapolis, Gregory said.

Illinois State Police safety inspectors were checking the tractor-trailer for equipment violations Sunday, and Gregory said there might be charges related to how the horses were transported.

Fisch said horse enthusiasts from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin were mobilizing to try to keep the horses from continuing on their journey, which Fisch suspects would eventually be to a slaughterhouse.