An animal charity in Waterford has described finding a chicken being used as a football in the city as "horrendous" and "a mad act of cruelty".
Waterford Animal Welfare says it found the bird at Templar's Hall on Monday night after receiving a call from Gardaí.
It's alleged a group of intoxicated young adults had been kicking it around.
When volunteers discovered the animal it was still alive but it later had to be euthanised by a vet.
Andrew Quinn and Aisling Whelan of Waterford Animal Welfare spoke to Damien Tiernan on Deise Today and described the incident:
"We can't say it was students, it was young youths; but when we arrived the chicken was in the corner of a fence, beer cans on him and around him.
"He actually wasn't moving, so when we put him into the jeep we thought he was dead to be honest. But on veterinary inspection, he'd been suffering previously to that night - his wings were clipped to such an extent that he couldn't fly."
