Turnbull’s fiancé, Chris Gordon, said that Berger was less contrite when the family called and asked him if he came to their home and killed their pet. He said that Berger responded with “Yup. Any questions?” Berger later also said that the uproar was about nothing and “most of the people think it’s rather silly” when “there’s such uproar about a chicken.”
The hen was given as a present to Phoenix Turnbull, 5, on his birthday.
Berger appears to view a proper response as including clubbing a small red hen with a shovel and decapitating it. He said that he was trying to respond to the complaints of a “frustrated” neighbor about the chickens running loose. Turnbull’s neighbor, Dick Rierson, brought pictures of Turnbull’s muddy poultry pen to the August city council meeting and later said that he objected to chicken living “in filth like that” and that such conditions could attract rats.
Berger said that he had to try for roughly ten minutes to catch the hen. After getting the other fowl into the cage, he “dispatched” the chicken in order to show Rierson “some results.” He said that he decided not to use his gun because children were playing nearby.
Berger insisted that his actions were legal.
Berger at the time said “I’m sorry it had to happen that way” and that leaving the severed head was really not meant to send a message. He thought it was still attached to the body when he took the carcass. However, it did not “have to happen” at all. I was not aware of police carrying out impromptu executions when a family has been notified of a violation.
Berger was asked earlier this year to present a proposed ordinance to allow chickens in the city. It will be presented at the meeting where this incident is to be discussed.
As for the neighbor, Rierson is quoted as saying that, if killing the chicken was the only way for the police chief to address the problem, “then I’d say he’s doing his job.”
I suppose that the family should be thankful that Rierson did not complain about truant or trespassing children.
Source: Twin Cities
Kudos: Michael Blott
I basically agree with anon, this is the mindset put forth to Americans by eight years of the W administration. It all feels like an extension of Dick Cheney to me.
Am I allowed to ask if the cop was Muslim?
How bizarre. Sorry for the kid. I had pet banties as a child – I would have been devastated if anybody had hurt them.
And what was the neighbours problem? We kept about 70 chickens and never had a problem with rats.
There are some very sick people about.
Darren, That seems a little overboard if a cop cannot intervene to save an animal except with a court order. Again, we do not know the laws in Minn. that may apply in this situation.
prayer, That seems to be a lot of chickens for pets. I take it that you abstain from eating chicken and eggs as well. It is also obvious that you lived where keeping fowl was not against the law. In this present case, those chickens were illegal to keep and the owners were flagrantly spitting on the law, and their neighbors. I try and be a good neighbor, and I will be damned if I will come to the defense of bad and obnoxious people who go out of their way to be bad neighbors.
randyjet – when you grow up in country where they grow food animals, there is a difference between raising a pet and raising food. The first thing you learn is if you are going to eat it, don’t name it.
Randy jet – yes, of course, we were country people. My point was only chickens don’t necessarily cause rats.
If they were breaking the law, well, they shouldn’t have. And it makes sense to forbid it in urban areas as if you allow chickens you allow roosters too and not everybody likes to get up at dawn.
But have you ever tried taking a pet from a 5 year old? It seems a strangely uncivilised way to deal with the issue in a civilised country. Maybe Judge Dredd should have been banned.
praywarrior – I do not get the neighbor’s complaint about them attracting rats. Although left-out food can attract scavengers.
Interesting take on the situation. So I’m sure you’d be ok with me blaming President Obama for the next shooting that happens in Schenectady, NY? Because by authorizing drone strikes that kill people President Obama has caused trickle-down-killing and therefore is responsible for this “systemic problem?”
Darren, As a fan of the show animal police, I don’t recall seeing the cops involved in this presenting warrants to enter and alleviate animal cruelty. I know that they do present citations and if they are not obeyed, they simply remove the animals, and again, I do not recall seeing warrants when they do this.
Randy
In our state they have to follow abatement procedures from the court to enter and remove property that is in violation of ordinances.
As for animal cruelty there was a court decision here that said that proffered exigency does not override the need for a court order to enter curtilage and remove the animals.
Nancy,
I’ll amend what I said:
The “decent police officers” (and there are many) need to clean up their ranks.
Edward at 10:18:
“This guy is a complete and utter lowlife who should be prosecuted. That being said, “the trickle-down torture effect?” Really?? You’re connecting the actions of a random cop in some random Minnesota town to the actions of the government?”
Yep. I am. And I’ll say it again:
Trickle-down torture.
We have a systemic problem. And we need to take of it.
Is this guy leading up to a Dahlmer defense?
I wonder if the city had the authority to enter the property and dispose of the fowl to begin with. I would think they would have to have a writ from the court to do this.
“What about the decent police officers? They are being painted with the same vile brush.” -Nancy
The “decent police officers” (and there are some) need to clean up their ranks.
These stories, these behaviors, are breaking my heart. What about the decent police officers? They are being painted with the same vile brush. This has got to stop. A nation of predators and thugs? There’s truth in that.
This guy is a complete and utter lowlife who should be prosecuted. That being said, “the trickle-down torture effect?” Really?? You’re connecting the actions of a random cop in some random Minnesota town to the actions of the government?
“Berger has since apologized by saying that he did not know it was a pet, but that still leaves the question of why an officer would decapitate animals and leave their heads on the ground in response to a municipal violation.”
What we’re seeing is the “trickle-down torture effect”, IMO. Expect more of it, until we decide to tackle it head on, no pun intended.
We’ve become a nation of predators and thugs. Most people just don’t realize it, yet.
anon – according to the cop he thought the head was still attached to the body, hence not seeing the head on the ground.
Looks like another bully in blue. I would expect proper procedure would be to issue a ticket for violation of ordinance. Without an ordinance prohibiting fowl, how is it legal for the cop to summarily execute a family pet? Surely there are other ways of settling the disputes of neighbors.
This one is in no way similar to the killing of a dog for a number of reasons. First off, the owners refused to obey an order mandating the removal of the fowl. They are guilty of being scofflaws, and chickens are normally considered FOOD, not pets. Then there is the question of what the city can do about the other birds and their conditions. At the very least, the city would remove the other birds, and then what? My guess is that the employees could look forward to some nice chicken dinners and Peking Duck.
If I were the city,I would charge the owners with animal cruelty and fine them for violating the orders of removal. The cop was quite nice in not killing the other fowl which I would think he had the legal right to do in enforcing the law. The FACT is that the birds MUST GO and if the owners refuse to obey, what other options does a single cop have under those circumstances?
Trevor “Chicken Killer” Berger is going to be his name until he dies. Don’t think he is not going to suffer for this. I would like to see his legal justification for this.
And Obama.
“Berger insisted that his actions were legal.”
Yeah, Nixon said that too.
Some cops think that their decisions are above the law – we as citizens have the ability to show them the truth if we act.
Ferguson showed what happens when citizen apathy prevails (1,700 votes cast out of a 21,000 population in the last election).
The name of the town is enough to incense the Dems here. This story puts it over the top.
I hear David Letterman in my head: Berger, Bolger. Bolger, Berger! A complete fiasco and stomach-turning course of events in both cases. Some people have no right representing the people of their community. Nauseated doesn’t come close.