Pigs are thought to have fallen from a stock truck along State Highway 1 on Monday.
Chertsey resident Kristin Lawrence was on her way to Ashburton about 8.30am when she saw a car with its hazard lights on parked at Chertsey, with a dead pig nearby. Then about 4km up the road she saw a courier truck stopped on the side of the road with its hazard lights on. She parked behind the truck and saw another dead pig. She and the truck driver used their bare hands to pull the large boar, weighing more than 80kg, off the road.
‘‘It’s only just happened and I pulled up behind him, I didn’t want anyone to hit a pig, it would write someone’s car off,’’ she said.
Police arrived at the scene and spoke to her and the truck driver. The truck driver had told her he saw another dead pig at Rakaia, which was hit by a vehicle. It appeared the three pigs had fallen off a stock truck and died on impact with the road. This appeared to be confirmed by what she saw further along the road, at Dromore – a police officer talking to a stock truck and trailer unit driver on the side of the road. She could not make out what company the truck was from.
‘‘He didn’t look happy, it’s a very serious thing for stock to fall out of your truck,’’ she said.
Police confirmed they were called to the Rakaia Highway about 8.33am Monday, with reports of ‘‘several’’ deceased pigs on the road.
‘‘It appears a vehicle may have collided with one. Police are investigating further,’’ a police spokesperson said. They did not answer questions about what caused the deaths or whether charges had been laid.
