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The Tasmanian
state capital of Hobart, and its southern fringe in particular,
has been plagued by feral fowls for the past five or six years,
according to resident and Southern Tasmanian Bantam Club
secretary Steven Baldock.
"They're crowing and carrying on," Baldock told Reuters by
telephone.
People who keep chickens for their eggs often abandoned
roosters, which do not produce eggs, he said.
"We've got people dumping them on the side of the road," Baldock
said.
"They're particularly a traffic hazard. It's also an animal
welfare issue, because they're suffering predation by dogs and
cats and not being fed properly."
An "amnesty" organized by the Bantam Club and the Royal
Tasmanian Agricultural Society on Saturday to encourage people
to hand in unwanted birds, no questions asked, resulted in more
than 150 fowls being brought in, he said.
Some would be re-homed with breeders, while the rest would be
euthanized.
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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