An injured chicken had to be rescued after allegedly being kicked around a housing estate in Co. Waterford.
On Monday night gardaí on patrol contacted an animal charity after coming across the bird which was described as being used as a football.
When volunteers brought the hen to the vets they realised its wings had been clipped, and it had suffered extreme abuse.
Chairperson of Waterford Animal Welfare, Andrew Quinn, said it had to be put to sleep due to the extent of its injuries.
Mr Quinn said: "The chicken was taken away and brought immediately to a vet to be examined and then we discovered that, not only had it been subjected to the abuse, but its wings had been very badly clipped so it couldn't fly.
"It was unable to use its legs and as a result of that it had massive chest sores and infections because he was dragging himself along on his chest for God knows how long."
He went on to say how the bird was found.
He said: "We got a call from the gardaí to say that colleagues had been stopped by two girls highlighting the plight of a chicken and when they arrived they found a chicken hiding in a corner in a terrible state with beer cans around it and on top of it."
