CAPE TOWN, South Africa: Animal welfare officers faced the grisly task of euthanizing more than 350,000 chickens by hand after they were left starving and cannibalizing each other when a South African state-owned poultry company ran out of money to feed them, officials said Tuesday.
The National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or NSPCA, said it wasn’t able to say for certain how many other chickens had already died by the time its officers reached several neglected poultry farming sites because of the “mass cannibalism” that took place among the birds.
The NSPCA managed to save more than 500,000 chickens, it said.
“It was a harrowing scene,” the NSPCA said in a statement. “Skeletal chickens huddled together, chickens eating one another, feeding lines stripped bare.”
The chickens were owned by Daybreak Foods, a major poultry supplier owned by South Africa’s state asset management company Public Investment Corp.
NSPCA officers were first alerted to a crisis at one farm on April 30. The organization uncovered at least five other farms in northern South Africa with multiple sites on each farm where birds had been left to starve, it said.
Daybreak Foods was denied permission to take the birds to a slaughterhouse because they were too small.
There was no immediate response to an email message seeking comment from Daybreak Foods late Tuesday.
Company spokesperson Nokwazi Ngcongo told the Daily Maverick news outlet that the birds went unfed for a period of time due to financial challenges affecting feed delivery. She said efforts had been made to limit animal suffering as much as possible.
Nazareth Appalsamy, the manager of the NSPCA’s farm animal protection unit, told The Associated Press that the mass culling began last Wednesday and was only completed on Monday. Around 75 animal protection officers were tasked with euthanizing the chickens that weren’t able to recover one by one, Appalsamy said.
“Culling took a real toll on the staff, being exposed to such extreme measures,” he said.
The NSPCA said the chickens hadn’t been fed for more than a week and pledged to file a court case against Daybreak Foods under animal protection laws for abandoning its responsibilities.
The South African government said it is in talks with Daybreak Foods leadership over its financial troubles.
350,000 chickens euthanized in South Africa after they were left starving and eating each other
https://arab.news/6kura
350,000 chickens euthanized in South Africa after they were left starving and eating each other
- The NSPCA managed to save more than 500,000 chickens
- 'Skeletal chickens huddled together, chickens eating one another, feeding lines stripped bare,' an official said
Karl and Gnabry spark Bayern to comeback win over Sporting
- Gnabry set up defender Jonathan Tah for a late goal to ensure Bayern claimed all three points
- Karl became the youngest player to score in three consecutive Champions League games
MUNICH: Revitalized striker Serge Gnabry and teenage forward Lennart Karl helped inspire Bayern Munich to a come-from-behind 3-1 home win over Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday.
With Bayern trailing to a Joshua Kimmich own-goal midway through the second half and staring down the barrel of a second-successive European loss, Gnabry and Karl scored in quick succession to wrestle the match in Bayern’s favor.
Gnabry set up defender Jonathan Tah for a late goal to ensure Bayern claimed all three points and rose to second in the league phase standings, behind Arsenal on goal difference.
“The first 10 minutes of the second half weren’t very good, but we stayed calm,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany told DAZN.
“We have done our job well so far and we want to see it through to the end.”
The top 24 sides make it through to the knockout rounds, with the top eight qualifying for the last 16 directly.
Karl became the youngest player to score in three consecutive Champions League games, beating the record previously held by Kylian Mbappe.
“To be in the Champions League at the age of 17 is something very, very special for me,” Karl told DAZN. “I’m proud of myself — and of the team.”
Despite the loss, the Portuguese champions sit ninth in the 36-team table with two games remaining.
- Seven changes for Bayern -
Kompany made seven changes to his starting XI, recalling Harry Kane, Gnabry, Karl, Manuel Neuer and Tah who were rested on Saturday against Stuttgart with Sporting’s visit in mind.
Bayern have scored more goals than any other club in Europe’s top-five leagues this season and went agonizingly close several times in the opening half.
Karl’s fifth-minute goal was ruled out for offside and Kane hit the post on the half-hour mark. Kane, Karl and Gnabry all forced Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva into acrobatic stops before the break.
Sporting’s best chance in the opening half came when Geny Catamo put in a cross which Tah almost guided into his own net, forcing Neuer into a reflex save.
Some more Bayern friendly fire put Sporting in front early in the second period, with Neuer this time helpless as Kimmich deflected a Joao Simoes cross in with 54 minutes gone.
The goal jolted Bayern into gear and the German champions soon struck back to take the lead with two goals in four minutes.
Unmarked at the back post, Gnabry tapped in a Michael Olize corner to level things up. Karl latched onto a Konrad Laimer pass before blasting in on the turn from a tight angle.
With 13 minutes remaining, Kimmich and Tah made good on their defensive errors by combining for Bayern’s third, with a little help from Gnabry.
Kimmich looped in a dipping cross to Gnabry, who headed centrally for Tah to poke home.
With three minutes remaining, Kompany withdrew Gnabry and brought Alphonso Davies onto the pitch, the Canada captain playing his first match since tearing his ACL in March.
