Dismembered Horse Parts Spilled on Highway

Spilled horse parts leave smelly mess
By Alex Branch, Star-Telegram Staff Writer


FORT WORTH - A truck spilled 300 to 400 pounds of dismembered horse parts in north Fort Worth on Wednesday, disrupting traffic and filling the air with the smell of spoiled meat, police said.

Horse organs, heads and hoofs fell from a truck about 7:45 p.m. in the 3700 block of Decatur Avenue. The truck had left Beltex Corp., a north Fort Worth horse slaughtering plant, police officer Alana Baxter said.

The truck did not stop, Baxter said.

People at a nearby business said the spill happened when the truck driver had to make a sudden stop.

The smell, they said, was nauseating.

"I had just eaten a banana split," Candi Brown said. "And as soon as I went outside, I just threw up."

Paulette Richardson called the odor "the grossest and most horrible thing I have smelled."

Baxter said she is not usually affected by strong odors, but she had to put a towel around her face. Passers-by also complained of the smell, and vehicles slipped and skidded as they drove through it.

"It was a really big mess," she said.

Baxter said she contacted Beltex officials, who had most of the parts cleaned up by 10 p.m. City street workers laid sand over the area afterward.

Street workers said they have cleaned up similar spills before.