Netizens up-in-arms over AVA’s culling of ‘noisy chickens’ in Year of Rooster

Netizens are upset by the action of the authorities decision to put down free roaming chickens in the Thomson area due to complaints of noise from a few residents. The TODAY newspaper which reported on the action of the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said that the chickens were probably from the nearby forested area, and that it “understands the chickens euthanised were not the red junglefowl, which resemble chickens and have been identified as an endangered species.”

The AVA spokesperson told TODAY that the chickens were “humanely euthanised, as relocation options are not available in land-scarce Singapore”. The majority of people in the neighbourhood who were interviewed by the newspaper (seven out of ten) about the culled chicken said that the lamented the demise of the birds. The response from netizens in TODAY’s Facebook post of the story was equally loud.

Facebook user Lynett Koh describing AVA’s action as ‘stupid’ said that she was very angry over it.

“Only 20 residents complained. What about those residents who didn’t complain? This is ridiculous. We just keep deforesting the area, pushing them out of their natural habitat and now you just cull them off because of 20 residents…I think it’s at least 3 generations of chicken family already. You can see the Father rooster, Mother hen and the baby chickens roaming about together as a family. Now all dead.”

Some netizens asked why the MP for the area is so quiet over the incident and if he was consulted before the birds were culled. Yet others asked why couldn’t the chickens be moved to nearby Bishan Park.

Pang Jun Heng said: “I have been living there for good 16years, the chickens there just mind their own business and roam around. I walk pass them almost on a daily basis, they don’t Attack anyone nor make lots of noise. The only time to call out is in the morning at around 4am, and it’s only for 1-2 minutes and it’s not even that loud to wake someone up.”

Dennis Ho described AVA’s action as “totally senseless” said that the chickens were roaming freely in the field behind Flame Tree Park condo, and that they were chased out when the new condo was built.

“They have nowhere else to go. Humans forced them out of their habitat and now we cull them!”