Animals: Jarred Hen

To demonstrate the efficacy of Sears Roebuck’s best chicken feed,Sears-Roebuck’s Lancaster, Pa. Manager Mark Wayne Ansbach last spring popped a Plymouth Rock pullet named Priscilla into a big glass jar, placed the jar in his store window. Priscilla thrived on hermail-order diet, soon grew so large that she could not be removed from the jar. The S. P. C. A. arrested Mr. Ansbach, got him fined $10. He appealed.

Last week in Philadelphia, after a month of deliberation, Pennsylvania’s Superior Court returned a 6-to-1 decision for the appellant. Ruled Judge Thomas J. Baldridge in the majority opinion: ”Because this chicken did not have its freedom it does not follow that the act of the appelant was cruel and done recklessly, without regard to consequences. Horses and cows are kept in stalls, especially during the winter, for indefinite periods, and have no more opportunity to move than this chicken did.”