Poultry flock bludgeoned to death in savage attack (From Stroud News and Journal)

Poultry flock bludgeoned to death in savage attack

THUGS wielding shears, broom handles, poles and tractor parts brutally massacred a flock of poultry at a Stroud smallholding this week in a shocking mystery incident that left 20 birds bludgeoned to death or dying.

A rooster, a duck and 15 chickens were either repeatedly battered with bars or stabbed to death with the blades of shears in the savage slaughter at Vals Acre on Folly Lane on Friday.

A golden pheasant and two other birds died of trauma, another sustained a broken leg, while the resident cat narrowly escaped with its life. The pheasant's mate fled in terror and has not been seen since.

In total 20 birds died in the frenzied battering on Val and George Ponting's land last Friday sometime before 4pm.

A distraught Mrs Ponting, 52, area operations manager at Stroud Library, told the SNJ on Monday: "I'm so emotional about it. It's unbelievable, we just couldn't believe the brutality of what we found."

The scale and savagery of the massacre was discovered on Friday by Mr Ponting, who is 64 and retired. He then telephoned his wife at work with the sickening news.

"The first one he saw when he got to the barn was a beautiful white duck stretched out dead in its own blood," she said.

"Then he found a chicken driven out of her house in the barn and smashed to death. One bird was pulverised to the extent that when George picked up the body it felt as if every bone was broken. It was smashed flat like a magazine."

The massacre has hit the couple hard. "It just makes me crawl thinking about it. It's killing for killing's sake. They were just intent on releasing the birds to smash them to death," said Mrs Ponting, who retires from the library this Christmas.

"This small holding was a present from my husband. It was supposed to be a little piece of heaven, a release from the stress of everyday life. "It was not heaven on Friday."

The couple have no idea why the barbarous incident took place or who could be responsible for the savagery. At first they thought children on half-term might have been the culprits but soon realised that it must have been adults.

"Out initial reaction was that it was half term and kids, but the equipment they used to smash the birds - a wheel weight off a tractor that would weigh 40 pounds - was not something that a child could use," said Mrs Ponting.

The birds were more than livestock to the couple - they were feathered friends.

"We've cuddled them and fed them and we've trimmed their feet." said a tearful Mrs Ponting.

The thugs also caused around £230 worth of damage to property, plants and equipment. Cruelty to animals carries a sentence of up to six months in prison.

police described the incident as extremely unusual and shocking and pledged to do everything they could to try and catch those responsible.

The couple are offering a reward for anyone providing information that leads to the prosecution and conviction of the offenders.

Anyone who can help with the inquiry should call the police on 0845 0901234 quoting incident number 436 or Crimestoppers free and anonymously on 0800 555111.