SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Transportation has denied a petition to erect a roadside memorial at the site where hundreds of turkeys were killed last month in a tractor-trailer accident, but animal rights activists on Monday appealed that decision. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has requested a permit for a sign marking the spot near the rural town of Wallsburg where a truck hauling more than 700 live turkeys crashed through a guard rail on U.S. Highway 189 and plunged into a reservoir on April 24. The driver survived with injuries suffered when he was thrown from the cab of his truck, according to the Highway Patrol. The PETA-proposed sign would include the Transportation Department’s standard safe-driving messages along with an image of a turkey and the words, “In memory of the hundreds of terrified turkeys who died here in a truck crash. Try vegan.”  “We are hoping (transportation officials) will see that this (is) a great way to help save both human and animal lives,” Laura Cascada, a senior campaign coordinator for PETA, said. — Reuters