Kattrina Horner

By Josh Hall and Troy Gillard

scary incident

Red Deer woman hit by semi while protesting

Sep 6, 2019 | 9:38 AM

A Red Deer woman was hit by a semi while protesting last month outside a Red Deer pork processing facility.

Kattrina Horner is a member of Red Deer Animal Save, an affiliate of The Save Movement – a global organization comprised of groups who ‘bear witness’ to the final moments in the lives of pigs, cows, chickens and other farm animals en route to slaughter.

During the noon hour on August 19, Horner and four others were standing roadside as a semi hauling pigs approached the Olymel entrance from Riverside Drive.

Typically, Horner says truck drivers graciously stop to give them 30 seconds or so to say goodbye to the animals on board. On this occasion, that didn’t happen.

“I saw the truck coming up the road and I had quickly tried to make it to the light before it said not to walk. I didn’t catch it, so I stood there waiting,” she recalls. “When it said ‘walk’ and the traffic light turned green, I started south in the crosswalk. That’s when the truck came to a stop for the red light, but then sped up and hit me. He honked his horn to give me warning to, I guess, move — I have no idea, but he had hit me.”

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Police investigation deemed there was no criminal intent but that the driver was at fault for the collision. He was given a $776 ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, along with four demerit points.

Horner suffered rotator cuff damage as well as soft tissue damage from the collision.

A video of the incident recorded by a friend of Horner shows the truck driver giving a thumbs up a few seconds after he’d struck Horner.

“I really just feel sorry for him, to be honest. For someone to have that much animosity towards someone and just because of a different point of view, it must be a very limited world that he lives in, and fear drives harmful behaviour,”

Red Deer Animal Save has had talks with both RCMP and Olymel management about their cause. RCMP have offered tips to ensure the group’s safety, she says, while Olymel is allowing them to carry on with their vigils as long as they remain off of Olymel property.

“We’re a completely peaceful group. There’s no animosity towards anyone, we don’t hate people for eating meat or anything like that because we ourselves once ate meat,” she says. “I even used to be a hunter.”

Horner says she and her group haven’t been put off by the incident and will continue to hold their animal prayer vigils.

Steven Balzer, president of Transall Express, the company which owns the truck that hit Horner, told rdnewsNOW, “When a motor vehicle accident occurs, it is standard procedure for the operator to advise people in the office, and we were advised of the incident.

“Safety is paramount and we take it seriously. (We) meet with the operator and also collect as much information in regards to the event as we can.”

Balzer confirmed their internal investigation into the incident is still ongoing, but declined to say whether any further discipline will be coming to the driver.