New Zealand man convicted over wiring chickens' beaks

A New Zealand court convicted a man on Wednesday for wiring together the beaks of three chickens to "make them quiet", media reported.

Yong Jin Kim pleaded guilty to a court in North Island of three charges of failing to provide for the physical health and behavioural needs of an animal and causing the animal unnecessary pain and distress, The New Zealand Herald reported.

The charges were laid after a member of the public alerted the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Auckland (SPCA) to the animals' treatment in April.

An SPCA inspector discovered three enclosures containing a total of 15 chickens, including three with wired beaks, which an SPCA veterinarian concluded had been in place for up to three weeks.

Wire was pierced through the nostrils of the beaks of two hens and one rooster, then twisted together under the lower beak to stop the bird from opening its beak.

Kim stated in court he had wired the chickens' beaks to make them quiet.

Kim has been ordered to pay veterinary costs of NZ$1,122 ($812) and legal costs of NZ$2,265. He was also disqualified from owning any poultry for five years.