‘Distressed’ cockerel dies after being dumped with hen in cardboard box in West Malling

A ‘distressed’ cockerel has died after he and and a hen were dumped in cardboard box in West Malling. The RSPCA is appealing for information after the birds were found abandoned inside a cardboard box outside the gates of Manor Country Park on Thursday (June 1).

A ranger at the country park discovered the distressed birds abandoned outside the locked main gate when he turned up for work. The discovery of the dumped birds comes at a time that the RSPCA is seeing increasing numbers of abandoned animals amid the cost of living crisis.

In May this year alone, the RSPCA received 1,822 reports about abandonments – up from 1,609 for the same month last year – a rise of more than 13%.

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Of the West Malling cruelty, Kirsten Ormerod, an inspector at the RSPCA, said: “The poor birds had been shut inside a cardboard box and just dumped in front of the locked gates. They had no food, no water and no means of escaping the box.

“Heartbreakingly the ordeal was too much for the cockerel and he passed away from a seizure. Birds are very nervous and easily frightened animals so this would have been an extremely unsettling experience for them.

“The surviving hen has been taken to an RSPCA animal centre where she is receiving veterinary care and we are hopeful she will be able to be rehomed.