Abandoned Kaparos Chickens Highlight Serious Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim Concern
by CrownHeights.info
The discovery of hundreds of chickens abandoned in Crown Heights Friday afternoon has drawn renewed attention to Kapparos, and the important principle of Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim.
The first group, consisting of approximately 200 chickens, was discovered around 5:00pm Friday in crates inside an abandoned U-Haul on Winthrop Avenue between East 45th Street and Troy Avenue. According to activists, only about 80 of the chickens were still alive when they were found, with the remaining birds dead.
Soon afterward, additional chickens were discovered in a second unattended U-Haul pickup truck approximately a mile and a half away, at 910 St. Johns Place, according to animal-rights activists and police.
The chickens appeared to have been transported as part of a “Kaparos To Go” operation, with a sign identifying the service visible at one of the locations. The surviving birds were removed by animal rescuers and taken for care, while authorities investigated the circumstances surrounding the abandoned trucks.
The conditions described in the reports are deeply troubling and raise a clear concern of Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim. Whatever the circumstances that led to the trucks being abandoned, leaving live animals without adequate food, water, shelter or care is inconsistent with the Torah’s prohibition against causing unnecessary suffering to animals.
Kaparos is a longstanding pre-Yom Kippur minhag practiced by many Jewish communities. While the use of chickens is customary, others use money instead.
