Don't raise chickens in your apartment

...especially if you also have pet pigeons and especially if the "American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" is looking over your shoulders.

It's a small story so I will reprint it here (my voice of reason accompanied by copious amounts of sarcasm may be found in italics:

Man Accused of Biting Off Rooster's Head
By Associated Press

Sat Jul 29, 10:49 AM

NEW YORK - A man accused of biting the head off his pet rooster was arrested Friday and faces up to a year in prison if convicted, an animal protection spokesman said.

So it's illegal to bite the heads off of roosters? If he'd simply taken an axe to it, would that be legal? Or maybe if he'd simply wrung its neck, what then?

A neighbor had complained about a dead rooster near his Manhattan apartment and agents found the body of the beheaded rooster on a fire escape, said Joe Pentangelo, spokesman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The rooster's head was not located.

Ahhhh...so perhaps the crime is that he failed to eat the bird after killing it? Or maybe that he ate only the head? I imagine it ought to be illegal to eat rooster heads, though I've seen friends eat chicken feet...that ought to be illegal to. Anyway, I'm not sure I "get" the crime here...thus far I would imagine we have a host of criminals throughout the world who are ongoing repeat offenders...for the love of mercy, we must stop the slaughter of apartment bound roosters!

Humberto Rodriguez, 52, told agents that he bit the rooster's head off because he blamed it for injuring a pet pigeon that he also kept in the apartment, Pentangelo said.

Ahhh....haaaa...so you see he admits he did not intend to feed upon the flesh of the bird! GUILTY!

Rodriguez is charged with animal cruelty and could face up to a year in prison if convicted. It is also illegal to possess a live rooster in New York City, Pentangelo said.

Irony or inronies! It's illegal to possess a "live" rooster in New York City and so Rodriguez was simply trying to correct the error of his ways.

Pentangelo said Friday night he did not know whether Rodriguez had a lawyer.

Better question: did he order fried chicken as his last meal before they fry him? Seriously though, what the heck is this all about?!?!?! Does the "American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" really think that the chicken in my freezer suffered less than Rodriguez's did when he bit off its head? Help me out here....I get it being illegal to keep a rooster in you NYC apartment...but animal cruelty?

Makes me wanna go eat some veal. I might also add that the "American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" provided to the press an xray image of the decapitated rooster...which I suppose implies that their medical examiner was having difficulty discerning a cause of death?

Comments

Anonymous said…
...only in the the US of A
Seraphima said…
However, I'm not I'm OK with somebody who bites off animal heads and leave their decapitated bodies around...ya know what I mean?
layne (herman) said…
file this under: When Southern California people move to Walla Walla

Real deal... inspired by college students that lived next door to us, my wife and I brought a chicken to live with us. My Father in Law and wife built a 6X6 pen in our basement and our chicken lived there for about 5 years until we finally gave it away to a friend who had chickens.

We did get fresh eggs from her.
Belladonna said…
I cannot help but be curious if the same concern would be raised if the man had

a) swiftly cut off rooster head with a switchblade

b) bit of head, then plucked, cooked and ate rooster

c) danced the tango with the bird and forced it to wear ribbons around its comb

I believe in being kind to animals, but incarceration for this seems very strange to me.
Anonymous said…
Actually, I think there is grounds for concern here from the religious implications. I think the adherants to voodoo religious activities routlinely bite off the heads of their chickens.

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