Two weeks ago, an act of vandalism and animal cruelty occurred in a shed housing chickens belonging to meat producer Foster Farms. Someone entered a farm through a hole in the fence and clubbed 920 chickens to death for no clear reason.

No one is pretending that the chickens were being raised for any purpose other than becoming meat, but modern methods of chicken slaughter are generally quicker and a lot more humane than clubbing the birds to death with blunt instrument. In a statement, a Foster Farms representative called the crime an “unconscionable act of animal cruelty.”

This week, four suspects were arrested for the chicken clubbing, and they were charged with felony burglary and felony cruelty to animals. Three of the suspects are under 18.

“It would take a long time to do it,” one detective investigating the crime told the Los Angeles Times. “People should be alarmed at something like that.”

Authorities used tips from the public to find the suspects. It probably helped that Foster Farms and the Animal Legal Defense Fund had each offered $5,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest of the people responsible for this crime.

“It is the express policy of Foster Farms to treat its birds humanely and with compassion,” a company representative told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Any intentional act to the contrary is unacceptable.”

What we don’t know yet is why the suspects massacred chickens. It’s also a strange coincidence that 920 chickens were killed, and the crime occurred on September 20th.

Fresno teens arrested in 920 chicken deaths [San Francisco Chronicle]
Intruder uses golf club to kill nearly 1,000 Foster Farms chickens [LA Times]

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