A 25-year-old Montreal man is facing charges after a homemade trailer carrying eight dairy calves broke apart on Highway 401 in Kingston, leading to a multi-vehicle collision.
On Oct. 18 just after 7 a.m., a “small crossover type vehicle” was towing the trailer, “which was not sufficient to haul the load of cattle”, while travelling west on the 401 near Joyceville Road, the Frontenac OPP detachment said in a news release Monday.
When the trailer collapsed, the calves spilled onto the highway and suffered injuries that required a veterinarian to attend the scene to assess them.
As vehicles travelling in the same direction attempted to avoid the traffic hazard, one tractor trailer was struck by another tractor trailer, police said.
The collision cleanup took about five hours, police said, during which time the highway was either completely closed or had lane reductions.
Frontenac officers were assisted by a Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspector in removing the cattle from the highway. The calves, which were being transported from Montreal to a St Catharines, Ont., location, were seized as an investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency continues.
Omar Selma has been charged with unsafe operation of a vehicle, failing to surrender a licence and drawing a trailer with no plate. He is to appear in a Kingston courtroom on Dec. 9.