CMU looks into the case of spray-painted chickens
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These were among the chickens taken from the CMU campus.
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Just how did farm chickens end up inside campus buildings at Carnegie Mellon University last weekend? And who decided to paint them?
The university isn't saying much.
But Beth McMaster, a wildlife rehabilitator in Butler County who is caring for the birds, two of whom are sick, said it strikes her as a case of animal cruelty. She said the school owes the public an accounting of what happened and should punish whoever is responsible.
Ms. McMaster has nine hens that were removed from the campus beginning on Saturday, a number of them streaked with what she described as an oil-based spray paint.
One of the birds "is painted pink on her chest. There's one with purple on her back," she said. "There's another with yellow on her. One little hen has it on her back and face."
It appeared they had not eaten in nearly a week and two have a respiratory problem, she said. It's not possible to safely remove the paint, she added, so it will stay until the birds molt their feathers and "hopefully none of it will flake off into their mouth."
"It's toxic to them," she said.
Casey Brown, a volunteer who said she brought the chickens to the farm after being called to campus, said the bird painted in pink was loose on Saturday inside the University Center, the school's student center. Another one painted silver was found on a racquetball court. She said others were found on Sunday in the vicinity of fraternity houses near the corner of Forbes and Morewood avenues.
Carnegie Mellon said one of the hens was in the University Center but gave no specifics and would not say if fraternity involvement is suspected. After inquiries from the Post-Gazette over two days, the university released the following statement late Tuesday:
"Carnegie Mellon University campus affairs staff members are gathering the facts to understand what happened on Saturday, when farm chickens were found in campus buildings. Our students are fully cooperating with the university to gather details during this internal process. If disciplinary action is warranted, it will be handled through the normal internal judicial process."
First Published March 18, 2010 12:00 am
