Truck Wreck Leaves 168 Goats Dead

A big-rig livestock trailer overturned on a freeway ramp, killing 168 of the pygmy goats it was transporting.

“Some passed away from the pressure of being stacked on top of each other and couldn’t breathe, and I imagine some died of the injuries they received in the truck,” said city animal control officer George Mossman.

The dead goats were among 373 of the animals being hauled in the tandem-trailer rig. The trailer had four horizontal tiers.

The truck’s tractor did not overturn in Saturday’s accident, and the driver, Brett Murphy, 32, of Sacramento, was uninjured, the California Highway Patrol said.