A Tiverton animal rescue group is finding homes for several chickens after handling “a strange and urgent rescue situation” involving a streaming reality show, the agency says.
The West Place Animal Sanctuary on Saturday removed 10 chickens from a house in Cumberland, where they appeared in the online show Fishtank Live , according to Patrick Cole, director of development and communications for West Place Animal Sanctuary.
The animal sanctuary was alerted to a possible problem with chickens when the agency was contacted on Thursday by a viewer who claimed the show released 10 live chickens in the house and intended to abuse them, Cole said.
Concerned viewer contacted West Place Animal Sanctuary
“According to the complainant, the contestants on the show were ‘ashing their cigarettes on them’ and verbally mentioned abuse,” Cole wrote in an email.
In looking into the situation, West Place did not see any evidence of abuse in the videos, but decided to rescue them to save them from a potential trip to the slaughterhouse or from being set loose, Cole said in an interview Monday.