Dozens of pigs on their way to slaughter died sooner than expected Monday when the tractor-trailer carrying them rolled over on a highway ramp, blocking the road for nearly 11 hours.

About 160 pigs survived the crash, but 81 died, seven of which had to be euthanized at the scene, said Alison Cross of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The truck was going too fast when it rolled on the ramp from southbound Highway 427 to the eastbound Gardiner just before 4:30 a.m., said Ontario Provincial Police Const. Graham Williamson. The ramp didn’t reopen until 3 p.m.

Pigs were thrown into the roadway when the truck tipped, and some tried to escape.

“It was not a pleasant sight to see,” Cross said. “There were some pigs that had gotten loose . . . there were other live pigs that were trapped inside the truck.”

Regardless of the final destination of animals in transit, Cross said, the Ontario SPCA attends accident scenes if animals may be in distress.

These pigs were en route to Quality Meat Packers Ltd. on Tecumseth St. from Woodstock.

The pigs that didn’t die were herded onto another truck and taken to a facility where they will be monitored by veterinarians from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), who were on scene to inspect the swine, Cross said

CFIA officials will help the meat-packing facility determine if the pigs are healthy enough to enter the food supply.

“We won’t allow them into the food system, if there’s a problem with the animal,” said CFIA spokesman Guy Gravelle.

A 26-year-old truck driver from Norwich has been charged with careless driving, police said.

The driver, who did not want to be named, sat on the side of the highway smoking a cigarette when he spoke to the Star.

“I make this drive all the time and nothing’s ever gone wrong,” he said.

He said the pigs started getting very active when he was on the highway ramp and when he looked back the trailer had already started to tip.

“Then there’s nothing I could do,” the driver said

Last week, 365 pigs died when a truck tipped over in Orangeville when the driver tried to turn onto Highway 9 from Highway 10.

The driver of the transport truck, carrying 729 pigs in total, was also charged with careless driving.

With files from Liam Casey