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The Straits Times shared a video on their Facebook page of a group of chickens roaming around Tampines. There were roosters, hens, and even fluffy little chicks.
The noted that the Tampines Town Council said it was working with Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) to rehome the chickens from a flock of about 50 birds around Tampines Street 21. According to the report by ST, the problem began in September when a few residents were unhappy about the chickens being there despite having complained about them to the town council.
Since then, the chicken population has grown and complaints have been rising, especially from parents who feel the noise is distracting to their children who are studying for exams.
However, Tampines GRC Member of Parliament. Cheng Li Hui told ST that other resident’s didn’t mind the chickens. She added that the town council is looking to put some of the chickens in an enclosure in the neighbourhood as a way to control the situation.
Deputy CEO of Acres Kalai Vanan has said that, together with the town council, they will build two aviaries to house about 20 of the chickens while the rest will be put up for adoption.
A town council spokesperson then added that the end goal is to have “residents and chickens can coexist harmoniously in the community”.
Unfortunately, netizens are unhappy about the ‘relocation’ of the chickens. The comments section of ST’s video post was filled with pleas from the public to leave the fowls alone:
While others questioned the need to rehome the chickens in the first place as they aren’t posing a threat to anyone in the area:
Some were also skeptical about the ‘adoption’ aspect and wondered if that the adopted chickens would end up on someone’s dining table instead:
Still, this approach by the town council is a welcome change to the incident in February 2017 where the AVA culled wild chickens after receiving noise complaints. Back then, the AVA said that relocation was not possible in land-scare Singapore. So on that point, it's great that the authorities have opted for a less gruesome approach to the chicken problem in Tampines...as long as they stay out the kitchen.