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WARNING: VIDEO AND PHOTOS NSFW
TW: ANIMAL ABUSE, TORTURE, DEATH
UPDATE: Man has been arrested for cruelty to animals, 2nd degree.
LOUISVILLE, KY - According to a post on Reddit that was brought to our attention, a student at University of Louisville's JB Speed School for Engineering was torturing live chicks in his stories on Instagram.
In the video clip posted on Reddit you see a series of "Stories" from Instagram by user _ssenteza who has UofL listed in their bio. The first of this series shows what appears to be a quiz or test with the location tag for JB Speed School of Engineering. The clips that follow show a person seasoning, steaming, microwaving, and even hanging live baby chicks in what is stylized as a faux cooking show similar to many TikTok or Reels that you see on popular social media websites.
WARNING: WE AGAIN ADVISE THAT THE VIDEO POSTED BELOW IS NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL AUDIENCES AND VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED.
After the clips of the torture and the "finished results" were posted, it appears this user suffered a backlash as he posted several statements in defense of his actions. He ends this series by stating that they were "robot chickens I programmed" and "If I want to cook some chicken, ***** I'm gonna cook sum chicken *****." He went as far as posting "apologies" addressed to the "Karen's" who were upset about his actions.
The users of Reddit were appalled by the actions of the person in this video, many commenting that this person should be reported.
Some have even gone as far as to say they've reported him to the FBI but others expressed concern for his mental health. The#502LIVEstreamers have contacted University of Louisville as well as the Louisville Metro Police Department for comment but have yet to receive responses. We can only assume that no information will be given until their investigation has concluded. Stay tuned as we update you with this story as it develops.
THE LINK
We spoke with Joye Keeley, author of The Link and founder of the National Link Coalition. This is a study and curriculum that ties together animal abuse with elderly abuse and/or oftentimes domestic abuse.
The website states: "Over the past 35 years, researchers and professionals in a variety of human services and animal welfare disciplines have established significant correlations between animal abuse, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, elder abuse and other forms of violence. Mistreating animals is no longer seen as an isolated incident that can be ignored: it is often an indicator or predictor crime and a “red flag” warning sign that other family members in the household may not be safe."
Joye is responsible for drafting and ensuring the passage of the first ever ordinance for the US that makes it mandatory for both Louisville Metro Police Department and Louisville Metro Animal Services officers to be trained on recognizing the signs of abuse and likelihood of the scope of this abuse being larger than initially anticipated.
My thing about it is that and I know this is what LMPD and UofL are doing, but when you get a case like this, when police get any kind of crime but particularly an abuse case against anybody, whether it's human or animal, you have to expand the parameters of your call for service to look for other crimes. - Joye Keeley Founder of the National Link Coalition
She gave instances in her experiences working for LMPD when abuse cases crossed over from animal to human and vice versa. We are unable to disclose many details of these instances as it frequently involved children. More often than not in these cases both LMPD and LMAS had received multiple complaints about abuse prior to any actions being taken. She expressed that her realization and connection came about 35 years too late.
As an LMPD lieutenant, I investigated child abuse and domestic violence. And sex crimes against both adults and juveniles and I saw this link. So when I retired I thought well, I'm going to look into this further. And then come to find out, you know, I was 35 years too late because this was known all over the globe. - Joye Keeley
Unfortunately many of the instances she shared often led to the death of victims before any assistance could be given.
We should focus on the abuse of the perpetrator, because that abusive nature is what causes that perpetrator to abuse more than one species, more than one person, etc. And that's why you need to expand the parameters of the call for service to look for other crimes. Because you don't want to leave a victim behind. Right, that's the key. You don't want to leave a victim behind. - Joye Keeley
She also shared that in the state of Kentucky that "animal abuse" is considered a misdemeanor and its scope only covers cats and dogs, no other animals.
THE HARD TRUTH
The bigger picture is maybe much more disturbing than this isolated incident. The hard truth is that millions of chicks are sacrificed alive each year for various purposes. One of the most horrendous methods is the use of a conveyor system that feeds live chicks into a grinder in a process referred to as "culling." Culling can be used for a multitude of reasons, including disposing of diseased and/or injury to animals, but ultimately it is soft language for mass slaughter. As you can see in the video below, they are often ground alive and together with egg shells to create "chicken meal" which is used in a number of products, most notably dog and cat food.
I just wanted to say, you know of course I'm horrified that someone would do this, but then the bigger picture is that no one seems to want to know nor really cares. 200 million male chicks every year, and I think it's many more, are ground alive. Directly into a shredder every single minute, and then if they're not sophisticated enough to have the conveyor belt, they're thrown in a bag to suffocate and then stacked on top of each other and stomped on and it's just, it's horrendous. - Rebecca Eaves Long-time Animal Welfare Advocate
WARNING: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ALSO ADVISED FOR THIS VIDEO CLIP
TW: ANIMAL SLAUGHTER, DEATH
Lab testing is another major factor for these young animals. Labs across the nation, including many here in Kentucky even some reportedly on the campus of UofL, utilize these and other animals to test a number of chemicals which ultimately prove to be harmful and more than often fatal. The purpose is typically to test products on living creatures before being available for human use or consumption. The ethics of these lab tests have been called into question by animal welfare advocates for decades.
Aside from the inhumane treatment of these animals in their processing and/or use for testing, another contributing factor to their abuse and neglect is the Easter season. Many of the chicks that survive the storing and shipping process are often purchased as gifts or pets for children to celebrate the holiday. While this is a cutesy practice that might bring some cheer, most forget that chicks become full grown chickens. Most quickly realize they lack the space and/or resources necessary for living chickens. These animals tend to end up abandoned or the lucky ones at an animal sanctuary such as Tribe Animal Sanctuary, who recently had a total of 10 chickens dropped on their property.
We came home on the 21st of March and there was a chicken in our pasture... We don't have chickens because we have two red hawks on the property so we can't guarantee their safety... But then on Friday there's nine more. - Becki Streif Tribe Animal Sanctuary
This is a common occurrence for their Sanctuary even though they don't advertise their address. In the past they have had dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, and more dropped at their doorstep. She attributes these particular chickens likely to the rise in the price of eggs and people under the common misconception that the consumer can easily cut out the middle man.
I think these were probably because of just ad prices are so high. People got chicks thinking they were going to [bypass the store] but, chickens are farm birds and birds in general, they're very messy animals. And they have to be fed. They'd have to be protected. - Becki Streif
She recommends the use of alternatives to traditional eggs and milk. Rice, oats, flax, hemp, and various nuts are common replacements for lactose. There are also entirely plant based alternatives to eggs such as Just Egg.
So there's a great product on the market. You can buy it anywhere. I get mine at Kroger. You don't have to go to Whole Foods to get it. It's called Just Egg and it's made from the ming bean. Asian countries use a it lot and it sounds gross but it is plant based and tastes just like eggs. You can scramble them. You can do omelettes. You can do frittatas. You can bake it. And it has zero cholesterol. - Becki Streif
It's believed that this process of culling leads to the death of an estimated 200 million chicks in the US and 7 billion worldwide each year.
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Culling refers to selectively slaughtering an animal. The action you referenced is a method for culling but there are other humane ways that prevent an animal from further suffering from say, an injury or disease they can’t recover from.