Dead chickens placed in odd position on ritzy NYC block — sparking ‘animal sacrifice' claims
Two slaughtered chickens were found on an Upper West Side median in an odd position that has activists worried they were killed in an animal sacrifice ritual.
The birds were found Saturday lined up with their feet facing at West 89th Street and Broadway less than a year after similar fowl play three blocks away on Broadway and West 92nd Street, local publication West Side Rag reported.
'[It] appears to be animal sacrifice to me,' John Di Leonardo, executive director of Humane Long Island, told The Post.
'It's illegal for live slaughter markets to sell live birds to the public but we know they do it often,' he said.
'From Buddhists releasing live animals in Central Park who die if not recovered to birds tied to trees for Santeria in public parks to Shaktis killing pigs near Gateway National Park – to whatever this is.'
Edita Birnkrant, of animal advocacy group NYCLASS, said 'it clearly was done purposely and placed in a visible spot.
'They look healthier than the birds usually look at live markets,' she added.
'The nearest live poultry market is in Harlem so I don't know [if] that's the culprit.'
By Tuesday, the birds had been removed but not everyone was uneasy about the birds.
'I'm almost kind of glad,' said Harold Steinblatt, a self-described 'frequent bench-sitter' and longtime Upper West Side resident who said the incident sounded 'cultish.'
'That means it's not just all rich hedge fund managers here,' he said.
'Or maybe it was a disgruntled hedge fund manager who was the culprit.'
Chickens are the most common sacrifice in the Santeria Afro-Caribbean religion, according to the BBC.
The Supreme Court upheld the right to animal sacrifice on religious grounds in 1993 — but according to New York laws, aggravated cruelty to animals is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison.
Evidence of sacrificial killings have been reported across the five boroughs, with chickens, pigs and even rats killed in 'twisted' religious rituals in parkland surrounding Jamaica Bay in Queens.
In Upper Manhattan, whole dead chickens and cows, as well as fish and eggs, have been found as offerings on crypts at Old Trinity Cemetery, according to Scouting NY.
Thousands of chickens are also killed each year in the Big Apple ahead of Yom Kippur during the ultra-orthodox Jewish ritual of Kaporos, which involves slitting a chicken's throat, per ABC New York.
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