When Beth Ferry saw a semitrailer with 130 pigs rolled over on its side on a highway in southwest Michigan, she quickly pulled over. The lone law-enforcement officer on the scene was happy to hear that the Ferry, a Michigan State University Extension educator, had experience handling pigs and was eager to help. 

“He looked relieved,” Ferry recalled with a grin. “He said, ‘Thank goodness you’re here. The closest I get to pigs is bacon for breakfast.’”

Ferry, whose job with MSU Extension entails working with hog producers and agribusiness suppliers, said the experience helped justify the issue that she and her colleagues had identified in 2018 — most first responders aren’t trained to manage animals involved in roadway accidents. That’s when ERAIL was born. 

Emergency Response to Accidents Involving Livestock, or ERAIL, includes a comprehensive training program that teaches first responders how to safely handle loose, trapped and injured animals. 

Troy Goodnough, Monroe County sherriff, said that having the proper equipment is an important part of the process. 

“Our goal is to clear roadways quickly and get people back to business,” he said. “We can do that better when we have the right equipment to deal with unusual accidents. We are so pleased to now have an ERAIL trailer in Monroe County and mutual agreements with surrounding counties.”

The equipment Goodnough was referring to includes the 7-by-14-foot enclosed ERAIL cargo trailers that carry specialized portable gates, straps, binders and other gear for animal handling that are not typically found on firetrucks, ambulances or law enforcement vehicles.

Currently, law enforcement officials in Branch, Jackson, Otsego, Monroe, Gratiot and Berrien counties house such trailers. By the end of 2024, Lapeer and Midland counties will have trailers, and one is expected to be placed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 2025. In all cases, the equipment is available to surrounding counties when needed.

The trailers and expanded trainings are funded by a grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, or MDARD, with initial seed funding from the Michigan Pork Producers Association and Michigan Alliance for Animal Agriculture. Tim Boring, MDARD director, said the placement of the trailers, as well as the training, is important to farmers, the industry and the safety of the state’s first responders.

“Michigan is home to nearly 3.5 million head of livestock, 200,000 horses and more than 15 million chickens and turkeys,” Boring said. “We move a lot of livestock in this state and MDARD was able to provide critical funding to help MSU Extension deploy this training and trailers out to first responders. The goal is to have trailers within one hour of highly travelled routes with animals and animal-dense populations. It’s equipment we hope we never have to use, but the peace of mind of having it available is invaluable.”

In 2024, ERAIL trailers have been deployed four times, significantly improving the safety, speed and efficiency of roadway clearance, according to feedback from over 700 first responders who have been trained so far. These responders report that the specialized equipment and training provided by MSU Extension makes a substantial difference when dealing with incidents involving livestock on Michigan roads.

Quentin Tyler, director of MSU Extension, emphasized the ongoing efforts to expand this training statewide. “Our goal is to have trained first responders in every Michigan county with access to ERAIL trailers and equipment,” Tyler said.

Tyler also highlighted the critical need for such resources given the scale of traffic in Michigan. 

“People drive more than 95 billion miles on Michigan’s 256,000 miles of roadway every year, and traffic accidents consistently approach 300,000 annually,” he said. “We want to ensure that accidents involving animals are handled with the right tools and training to protect both human and animal lives.”

For more information about this and other services from MSU Extension, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To contact an expert in your area, visithttps://extension.msu.edu/experts or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).