The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Brutal slaughter of 18 farm chickens shocks and sickens residents
Police call for CCTV footage after decapitated bird found on doorstep
A thug holding a lifeless hen was caught on camera after chickens were brutally slaughtered at a farm in Fife.
The image showing the hooded figure was taken from a doorbell camera around the time a chicken enclosure was raided at Easter Cartmore Farm in Lochgelly.
A decapitated bird was found on the doorstep.
Dead birds were found discarded in a number of neighbouring gardens and driveways following the sick rampage.
Janet McPherson, who has lived on the farm for around 40 years, said: “They’re evil, whoever has done this. “I feel distraught about it.”
She discovered her hens were missing when she checked their enclosure at around 6.30am on Sunday.
She said: “There weren’t any chickens. I thought that maybe the fox had got in – then I looked about to see if there were any feathers.”
Mrs McPherson, who said she had lost 18 chickens, realised the culprit could not have been a fox when she noticed that a box containing duck eggs, which a hen had been brooding, had disappeared.
She added: “The brooding hen was taken in its box with the eggs. That’s why I knew it wasn’t a fox.
“A girl at the end of the road came down at about nine o’clock in the morning and said there was a dead chicken in her garden, and one in a neighbour’s garden, and that her car had been covered in eggs.
“It was distressing. I’ve been here 40 years and have never had anything like this happen.”
Police Scotland confirmed it was investigating the incident, which happened overnight between Saturday and Sunday, and officers were following a positive line of inquiry.
Sergeant Donald Sutherland, of Cowdenbeath Police Station, said: “Our inquiries are ongoing and we would ask anyone with CCTV footage or who may have information that could assist with our investigation to contact police.”
Anyone with information is urged to call 101, quoting incident 0865 of May 3.
Darren Watt, Conservative councillor for Cowdenbeath, said: “Like many local residents, I am truly shocked and sickened by this horrific incident.”