Thousands of chickens euthanized in South Africa after they were left starving and eating each other

This undated photo provided by South Africa's National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) shows dead chickens at a poultry farming site in Delmas, South Africa. (NSPCA South Africa via AP) AP

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Animal welfare officers faced the grisly task of euthanizing more than 350,000 chickens by hand after they were left starving and cannibalizing each other when a South African state-owned poultry company ran out of money to feed them, officials said Tuesday.

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The National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or NSPCA, said it wasn’t able to say for certain how many other chickens had already died by the time its officers reached several neglected poultry farming sites because of the “mass cannibalism” that took place among the birds.

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The NSPCA managed to save more than 500,000 chickens, it said.

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“It was a harrowing scene,” the NSPCA said in a statement. “Skeletal chickens huddled together, chickens eating one another, feeding lines stripped bare.”

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The chickens were owned by Daybreak Foods, a major poultry supplier owned by South Africa’s state asset management company Public Investment Corp.

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NSPCA officers were first alerted to a crisis at one farm on April 30. The organization uncovered at least five other farms in northern South Africa with multiple sites on each farm where birds had been left to starve, it said.

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Daybreak Foods was denied permission to take the birds to a slaughterhouse because they were too small.

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There was no immediate response to an email message seeking comment from Daybreak Foods late Tuesday.

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Company spokesperson Nokwazi Ngcongo told the Daily Maverick news outlet that the birds went unfed for a period of time due to financial challenges affecting feed delivery. She said efforts had been made to limit animal suffering as much as possible.

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Nazareth Appalsamy, the manager of the NSPCA’s farm animal protection unit, told The Associated Press that the mass culling began last Wednesday and was only completed on Monday. Around 75 animal protection officers were tasked with euthanizing the chickens that weren’t able to recover one by one, Appalsamy said.

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“Culling took a real toll on the staff, being exposed to such extreme measures,” he said.

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The NSPCA said the chickens hadn’t been fed for more than a week and pledged to file a court case against Daybreak Foods under animal protection laws for abandoning its responsibilities.

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The South African government said it is in talks with Daybreak Foods leadership over its financial troubles.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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