Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Apr 15: The incident in which nearly 200 game fowls were found discarded at Seetu within Mundaje gram panchayat limits on Mangaluru-Villupuram national highway continues to baffle the agencies and the people. This Salem breed of game chickens had been found by the side of the road on April 11.
Among the birds, a few were dead and several looked like they were sick. There is no clue so far whatsoever who, why and for what purpose abandoned the chickens there. Many had picked these poultry birds and put as many of them as possible in their bags before rushing home. Locals said that some people who got these birds free of cost had arranged for parties by the riverside and elsewhere.
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There is apprehension about the consumption of sick birds giving rise to infectious diseases. The fear of coronavirus infection is already in the air. It is learnt that officials of the animal husbandry department visited the spot on Sunday evening although they were informed in the morning.
Nearly 200 Salem breed chickens were found by the roadside in a forest region in Mundaje village. About 50 of the chickens were found to have died in a radius of around 50 metres from the spot. The value of the chickens found was put at around Rs 50,000.
Every day, hundreds of vehicles move on this road, and there are no houses near the spot where the poultry birds were found. The pedestrians who were happy to see a heap of chickens by the roadside had taken them home in bags, gunny bags etc. It is said that a few among them are sick. Some of the chickens who had succeeded to escape from those who were frantically picking them up, are still roaming around the forest, while some others are perched on the trees in the area.