A Chinese man, identified as Gu, has been sentenced to six months in prison after scaring over 1,100 of his neighbor’s chickens to death.
Gu reportedly snuck into his neighbor’s chicken farm in Hengyang County, Hunan province, using a flashlight to make his way into the adjacent property. However, the sudden light frightened the chickens, causing them to panic into a corner and trample over one another.
A dispute between Gu and his neighbor, identified as Zhong, began in April 2022 after Zhong cut down Gu’s trees without asking for permission.
Soon after, Gu made his way into Zhong’s property at night with the flashlight, causing the death of 500 chickens.
In light of this initial feud, the police arrested Gu and ordered him to provide monetary compensation of 3,000 yuan (approximately $437) to Zhong. However, this failed to deter Gu, who once again trespassed into Zheng’s chicken farm, causing the death of another 640 chickens.
The Hengyang court ruled against Gu for the deaths of approximately 1,100 chickens on Tuesday.
Estimating Zhong’s total loss as 13,840 yuan (approximately $2,015), the court said that Gu’s actions intentionally caused “property loss.”
Gu was sentenced to six months in prison with one-year probation.
