CRUELTY TO BIRDS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 221, 12 May 1932, Page 2

CRUELTY TO BIRDS

CROWDED, FEATHERLESS IN A FILTHY CAGE FOR CHINESE FEAST When Leo Chong, a young Chinese resident of Newtown, took delivery of a number of ducks and fowls which he contemplated killing so that they might form one of the courses on the menu of a Chinese feast, he kept the birds in a dirty state. He was prosecuted for failing to supply them with proper and sufficient food, water, and shelter. In the opinion of Mr.- E. Page, S.M., before whom Chong appeared in the Wellington Police Court, th'e conditions under which the birds were kept amounted co cruelty. Chong, who pleaded not guilty, was fined £4 and costs. Counsel for the prosecution said that Inspector Henry, of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, visited Leo Chong's premises in Kenwyn Terrace, and saw 11 ducks and five fowls' in a box measuring j 5ft. 6in. by 4ft. With the exception of two ducks, which had recently been put in the box, the remainder of the ducks and fowls were in a filthy condition, and were wet. Owing to there being no perehes for the fowls, they had to sit on the wet, dirty fioor, with the result that they had scarcely any feathers on them from neck to tail. The food provid.ed for the birds was placed in a dish outside the box. There was no water available for the ducks to clean themselves with, and the fioor of the box had not been cleaned for some time. In addition, there was no run provided for any of the birds. A police constable who saw the birds in the box said that they were m such a dirty state that it was hard to distinguish the ducks from the fowls. After hearing Chong's evidence, the magistrate said that he was satisfied the birds had not been adequately cared for.