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AN APPEAL for information has been launched after a chicken was found with its head cut off.

The decapitated chicken was found in Pontypool and RSPCA Cymru have launched an information appeal.

The dead hen was found on Sunday, September 9 up a hill off Tranch Road, Tranch, Pontypool.

RSPCA inspector Izzi Hignell said: “When I arrived at the location the chicken appeared to have been dead less than 24 hours and had been placed on a bed of fern leaves and next to a pile of rocks.

“It appeared that the head had been cleanly cut off, which was found on the floor under the rocks, and that this had been done deliberately. It is just truly appalling and shocking and just awful to think of how this chicken may have suffered.”

A vet confirmed that the head appeared to have been cut off and the chicken hadn’t been subject to a wild animal attack.

Inspector Hignell added: “We’re not sure who the chicken belongs to and a poster has been placed in the location to try and find out who they are to inform them of this incident.”

Mia Fernyhough, hen welfare specialist at the RSPCA, said: “Even people keeping a few chickens in their back garden and smallholders are subject to very strict rules when it comes to humane killing which should only ever be carried out by those trained and competent to do so. Cutting the head off a live chicken is not considered an acceptable or humane method of killing. Pet chicken owners concerned about the health and welfare of their animals should always contact a vet.”

Anyone with information about how the chicken was killed can call the inspectorate appeal line 0300 123 8018. Calls are treated in confidence.