Chickens killed, left to shock little ones

Staff and young ones couldn't understand why anyone would hurt their birds. left Liam Cox (left), 4, Jayden Simmins, 4, Linda Burgess, and Kailahi Blake, 3. Photo/Bevan Conley

Staff at a Wanganui early childhood education centre are upset and shocked after someone broke in and killed three chickens, hiding the bodies in the children's play trough.

Ashtyn Englebretson discovered the bantam chickens missing just after 7am yesterday while doing the daily safety check of the outside play area at Funhouse Learning Centre on St Hill St.

Blood was on the concrete and feathers were all around the chicken coop, which had been smashed open with a brick.

"They obviously worked the chickens up before killing them," said director Linda Burgess, pointing to the feathers strewn around the lawn.

On the other side of the centre, children's clothes had been pulled out of outdoor cubbyholes and thrown on the ground.

A stereo system which had been left out overnight was not taken, Ms Burgess said.

The culprit would have climbed over the fence from Harvey Norman: "It's a malicious thing that was done. I don't know how anyone could do such a thing. Someone's got some warped sense of humour."

Another staffer said if it was the work of a young person, it seemed like "pre-psychotic" behaviour.

Mrs Englebretson, a team leader at the centre, said "it was a sick, sick thing to do at a children's care centre".

She believed the chickens were deliberately hidden in the water trough to frighten staff and children.

"It's a disgrace that anyone could treat animals like that," she said.

The bodies were only discovered when the Chronicle showed up to speak to staff. One staff member ran inside in tears.

Police told Ms Burgess they would not make a visit to the centre because there was nothing they could do and it was unlikely they would find any fingerprints.

They suggested the centre install security cameras, but Ms Burgess said it was a big cost for the independent, family-run business, which was founded by her twin sister about 12 years ago.

Police told Ms Burgess they would report the incident to the SPCA for animal cruelty, but that she would have to dispose of the dead birds herself.

Ms Burgess said it would have been nice for the children if the police had been able to visit, to show them they were doing something.

The children had named the chickens and fed and cared for them.

Ms Burgess said she was especially disappointed at how the centre had been treated because it regularly raised funds for charities.

It had spent all day Saturday at the River City Caboodle, raising money to help the Cancer Society. She was unsure whether they would get more chickens, as they now had the cost of replacing them and coop, and did not know if it was worth the risk.