Thursday, March 28, 2024

Nearly 100 chickens were on the loose on the Saanich Peninsula and nobody knows where they came from

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The mysterious appearance of approximately 100 chickens kept emergency services and animal control busy on Thursday morning.

Central Saanich police told Victoria Buzz that they received reports of chickens on the loose near Wallace drive.

As officers were making their way to the call location, they found a secondary group of chickens near the road. The officers then divided into two teams, one for the first site, which had 32 free ranging chickens, and one for the secondary site, which had around 16.

But the chicken chasing was only beginning.

As officers were wrangling chickens they were called to “another site of 20 more,” Cnst. Ann Piper of Central Saanich Police told Victoria Buzz. A fourth site was then reported, with about 7 more chickens roaming the central saanich area.

Piper said that soon after, Sidney RCMP contact Central Saanich Police saying that they also had loose chickens a “huge distance” away from the original call site.

Back in Central Saanich, Piper said that officers were “very fortunate.”

“Ryan Vantreight of Vantreight farms assisted quite a bit.” Seasoned farmer Vantreight was near the original chicken location, and helped establish fencing to keep the chickens in until CRD animal control arrived.

“A lot of the local community jumped in and added fencing,” said Piper about most of the locations. “[There was] huge support from local farmers and local residents.”

“There were definitely some chicken crossing the road type jokes going on.”

“And they were laying eggs.”

What happens next

The roughly 100 chickens are currently under CRD animal control care. Where the chickens came from, or what happens to them next is still unclear.

“Ryan Vantreight contacted some local farmers and couldn’t find any farmers in the area that lost 100 chickens, or even 20 or 30,” said Piper.

“No corporations said they lost any in a delivery.”

Piper says that experienced farmers told police that the chickens appear to be older and near the “end of their abilities”.

The investigation is still ongoing.

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Adam Chan
Former Staff Writer at Victoria Buzz.

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