South Yorkshire Times August 16, 1935

Cruelty to Fowls.
A Tightly Packed Denaby Consignment.

When Bernard Glynn, unemployed, 10, Adwick Street, Denaby, and Margaret Myers married, 3, Woodside View, Denaby, were fined 3 pounds each at the Doncaster Borough police car on Monday, Glynn for conveying 103 Fowls to Doncaster market in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering, and Myers for permitting the offence, the Mayor (Coun. H. H. Bone) at the conclusion of the case, issued a warning that anyone in future who appeared before the bench for a similar offence would be sent to prison. Then they added that the particular case before them was a very serious one, Glynn pleaded guilty and Mrs. Myers not guilty.

George Henry Thompson, an auctioneers assistant, Carr house Road, Doncaster, said he was engaged on his duties in the market at 9:40 AM. On July 6th when he saw defendant’s vehicle coming, in the charge of Glynn.

Inside the vehicle, which was “a kind of pig float,” there were two partitions separating the top of the float from the bottom. Witness helped to convey 89 fowls, including two cockerels, into the pens, and noticed that many of the bids were exhausted, but revived on reaching the open-air. The average weight of the birds was 7 lbs. each and all were full-sized. The fowls appeared as though they had been crushed and suffocated in the float.

C. Davidson said that when he saw Glynn unloading the fowls from the pig float he noticed that something was wrong with them. He examined the float and found it was 3ft, 4in. by 4ft. 6in. The bottom   deck was 1ft. 3in. deep and the top 1ft. 2in. a pig net had been used to cover the fowls on the top. The floor of the top partition was made of rough boards and was fastened so that there was practically no ventilation for the birds at the bottom. There was a total weight of 7 ½ cwt. of birds and the airspace was three-eighths of a cubic foot for each bird.

When he spoke to Glynn the man said the two cockerels had been fighting and had caused the disturbance, and added that the woman had helped him to load the birds into the vehicle. The woman told the police officer that she had employed Glynn to take her fowls to the market, and that he had taken 103 fowls that day.

Inspector Morrison, of the R. S. P. C. A., Said there was no room in the bottom of the float for ordinary sized poultry crates, which held about 12 birds each. There must have been twice as many birds in the float as there was room for. The day was exceedingly hot.

Glynn told the court that he fought there were plenty of room in the float, it was the first job he had done. His hands had been “pecked to pieces” on the journey to the market through trying to separate the cockerels from fighting. He did his best with the birds and fought there was plenty of breathing space.

Myers said it was the first time she had sent fowls to the market. She did not see the float being loaded.