Pigs wander highway after crash southeast of Dallas

An 18-wheeler that was carrying pigs crashed and caught fire on I-45 southeast of Dallas on Thursday morning.

The truck flipped onto its side and caught fire, killing numerous pigs and freeing others from their enclosure. Several of the pigs were left free to walk around the road.

The crash caused the truck to go across the barrier wall, into northbound lanes. It shut down both sides of the highway between Pleasant Run and Belt Line roads in Wilmer. The driver was not seriously injured.

195 pigs were on the truck at the time of the crash. 56 of them are dead and several more will need to be put down.

The driver says that he was distracted by his cell phone when he hit the back of another 18-wheeler, causing the crash. The driver was issued a class C moving violation.

PETA weighed in on the matter, as its president Ingrid Nelson released the following statement.

"For proof that pigs are intelligent animals who value their lives just as we do, look no further than these pigs and then realize that deciding to eat them supports a harrowing journey to slaughter, crash or no crash. PETA is calling for their bid for freedom—as they ran down the interstate—to be honored by sending them to a sanctuary, not a slaughterhouse. And we appeal to all human beings—called  "long pigs" by cannibals—to go vegan."

Cleanup was still ongoing from the crash until 4 p.m.