Bengaluru: Banker rescues 73 chicken

Bengaluru: A ride in a public bus all the way from Kolar with their legs tied and stacked in gunny bags proved life saving for 73 chickens that were rescued by animal activists under Ashok Nagar police limits on Friday. The chickens have now been sent to the Akila Karnataka Prani Daya Sangha in Koramangala.

The cruel manner in which the chickens were being transported bothered a Bengaluru-based banker and she was determined to save them. Pooja, 29, who is also a chicken eater, works for a reputed nationalised bank. She was curious to find out what was in three gunny bags that were unloaded from a private bus at a bus stop near All Saints Church near Vellara junction on Friday evening. She was moved by the plaintive calls of the chickens in the bags.

The chickens were stuffed inside with their legs tied. “The man who had transported the chickens was pouring water over the bags to cool the birds inside,” said Pooja. “When I asked the man whether it was right on his part to treat the chickens so cruelly, he started quarrelling with me. I called the police for help,” she said.

Pooja also alerted some animal activists and a few volunteers reached the spot immediately. Pooja doubts that hundreds of chickens are being transported into the city in a similar manner in buses as it is a cheap mode of transport.

The police registered a case at the Ashok Nagar police station against the man. The chickens were rescued and sent to the animal shelter in Kormangala, said Mr K.B. Harish, a volunteer with an animal activist group and the complainant in the case.

The court will decide the fate of the offender, who has been charged under Sections of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.