Update:
RCMP say the ventilation system at a Pine Grove poultry barn appears to have been deliberately shut off before roughly 10,000 chickens died.
Lunenburg District RCMP are investigating a break and enter at a meat-producing poultry barn on Naugler Road.
Police say officers were called to the facility at around 9:50 a.m. on July 25.
Investigators believe the break-in happened at around 9:45 p.m. on July 24.
Corporal Mandy Edwards, a public information officer with RCMP Nova Scotia, says police believe the building’s ventilation fans were turned off during the break-in.
“It appears that the switches were turned off, so a deliberate act of turning the switch off,” Edwards said.
Edwards says nothing appears to have been stolen.
She says investigators do not have a definitive value for the chickens, and RCMP do not know the age or size of the birds.
But she says the death of 10,000 chickens represents a major financial loss.
Edwards says police are collecting evidence, including video surveillance, and are conducting neighbourhood inquiries.
“We’re collecting all evidence, which includes video surveillance and as well, neighbourhood inquiries,” Edwards said.
Police are asking anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area of Naugler Road in Pine Grove to contact Lunenburg District RCMP.
Edwards says the property owners are handling the disposal of the chickens.
Anyone with information is asked to call Lunenburg District RCMP at 902-527-5555.
Anonymous tips can be made through Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers.
