Now don't worry if you've never heard of 'Jack the Cockerel' - we'd never heard of 'Cecil the Lion' before he became an ornamental fireside rug - Jack, like the unfortunate Cecil and many a 19th century impressionist painter - only find fame after their deaths.
According to Tropical Wings zoo park/ petting farm, in Chelmsford, Essex - Jack was a popular attraction with the many visitors who delighted in seeing him in his natural habitat, walking around freely and not doing much apart from scratching in the dirt and sleeping under picnic tables.
Jack was the proud owner of a harem of chickens and had fathered many eggs, he would keep guard over his property, protecting them from rogue roosters who could at any time, usurp his authority and depose him - taking over his harem and pecking his eggs to bits, so they can father their own, such is the cruelty of the animal kingdom.
Then just the other day, whilst he was going about his business he was confronted by a human family who were on a school summer holiday day out and whose kids took a shine to this majestic beast.
As the children made a beeline for Jack, the parents looked on laughing at the children's antics in trying to touch him, but Jack panicked! ..... headed off at speed towards a clump of trees for safety and hit one smack in the kisser.
Despite the valiant efforts of the zoo park staff, Jack succumbed to his massive injuries and died on the spot. Seeing what had happened, the family beat a hasty retreat from the park.
Fortunately, there was a concerned and horrified woman at hand, so outraged was she that the parents had not stopped their kids from trying to pet Jack at this petting zoo, she filmed the whole incident and has passed on images of the family and their children to the park bosses who had already called the Police
.... it is unclear at this time what action the Police will take.The pictures of these murdering monsters have now been circulated by the zoo owners to other attractions in the area, in case this Texas chainsaw style family turn up on their doorsteps.
Hopefully, the woman with the film will shortly upload it to the internet and the tens of thousands of outraged animal loving zealots who've been sitting awaiting the next act of cruelty to dumb creatures to happen, which gives their lives some meaning - will turn it viral and we can go about the business of demonising the family, identifying them and hounding them out of their house and home and maybe even threaten to kill those nasty children too.....perhaps by smashing their heads against a tree, that would be poetic justice, eh? .... serve 'em bloody right, do to them what they did to poor Jack.
In the meantime, I just hope that poor Jack's life will serve some useful purpose, even in death - maybe a nice cushion can be made with his feathers and passed on to a nursing home or a hospice, so that someone at least will gain comfort from this awful waste of a beautiful life ........... I'm welling up here.
