Police Arrest Four Teens In 920 Foster Farm Chicken Deaths
Four teenage boys have been charged with felony cruelty to animals after they reportedly broke into a Foster Farms location and slaughtered nearly 1,000 chickens with a golf club and another blunt object.
Police reportedly used surveillance footage, social media tracking and tips to determine that 18-year-old Gabriel Quintero and three male minors were responsible for breaking into a Foster Farms facility in Fresno County and clubbing 920 chickens to death using a golf club and what police suspect to be another blunt object.
Local authorities described the crime as "sick" and reportedly found evidence at the teens' homes that linked them to the animal cruelty attack.
Foster Farms released a statement thanking the Fresno County police for swiftly and responsibly taking care of the crime. "Foster Farms actively worked with law enforcement to facilitate the arrest of the individuals charged with this unconscionable act of animal cruelty," Ira Brill, the company's director of communications, said in a statement.
The chickens killed were reportedly worth $5,000. Foster farms has reportedly called the crime an "unconscionable act of animal cruelty." The teens are being charged with burglary and felony animal cruelty.
"This appears to be a random act of violence. It is the express policy of Foster Farms to treat its birds humanely and with compassion. Any intentional act to the contrary is unacceptable," the company added in a statement.
The Animal Defense League had previously put up a $5,000 reward for information leading to the suspects' arrest, and police say they received multiple tips on who was behind the attack.
