The Witbank SPCA received a call from an anonymous source, complaining about the mistreatment and confinement of chickens on a farm in Leeuwpoort.
Members of the Witbank SPCA headed out to the farm on February 14, the situation was in fact dire. “We met with two environmental health care officials while visiting the site, they had also received the very same complaint,” said Insp Mpho Mokoena, Witbank SPCA.
The owner of the coop was on site at the time of the SPCA’s visit. “We explained to him that the farming and slaughtering of the chickens was illegal, he replied that he didn’t know it was illegal and that he only purchases 60 chickens a day from Krugersdorp,” continued Mokoena.
Mokoena then asked the man if those were the only chickens in his possession, he seemed unsure about his answer, she then asked him about the sheds at the outskirts of the property and what was being kept in there. He answered that that wasn’t part of his area, the SPCA inspected the sheds and found a number of dead and living chickens, that had been cooped up together in a single shed without any sunlight, water or food.
The chickens that were still able to draw breath had begun feeding on those that had succumbed to starvation and died.
When questioned again, the man confessed that those chickens were in fact his, he also confessed that he hadn’t been to the sheds in a few days. Mokoena noted that the decomposition of the chickens showed they had been abandoned for a period far longer than a few days.
The Witbank SPCA explained to the man the severity of his actions, starving the animals, keeping the dead with the living, confinement without sunlight and the failure to clean the sheds.
The man didn’t say anything.
Members of the SPCA begun separating the living chickens from the dead, in the hopes that they might save them, they received food and water from one of the neighbours.
Later that day the SPCA contacted WITBANK NEWS to head out to the scene; they also attained a warrant of seizure from the Witbank Magistrates Court.
On their arrival on the farm, both WITBANK NEWS and the SPCA saw the owner of the farm driving off his property in a red vehicle.
On visiting the scene for a second time, the SPCA witnessed the owner of the shed leaving.
Members of the SPCA continued their efforts in saving the living chickens, although by the time they had returned, at least another 20 had died.
Maggots had also begun eating at the dead chickens, while the living chickens began throwing up the water they had been given, suffering from severe starvation and dehydration.
“The faeces of the chickens is layered, you can see no one has made any effort to clean up here in a long time,” added Mokoena.
The lives of the remaining chickens lie in the hands of two veterinarians, Mokoena fears that the 125 chickens might have to be euthanized due to their poor health, but the matter needs to be confirmed.
At least 1375 chickens were reported dead on the farm in Leeuwpoort, and the SPCA intends on charging the man to the fullest extend according to the Animal Protection Act 71 of 1962, sections 2(1)(c)(e)(p)(q) and (r), regarding the starving of the animals, their confinement, the parasites found on and in them and failure to administer medical attention, as well as the abandonment and negligence displayed by the man.
