San Diego

A jury cried foul Friday over the treatment of 33 chickens purchased live from a Lakeside poultry ranch and found suffocating in a car trunk on a hot day.

The San Diego Municipal Court jury deliberated one hour before convicting Vireak Vong of San Diego of transporting a domestic animal in a cruel manner, a misdemeanor offense.

Vong had purchased the chickens on Sept. 12 from an unnamed Lakeside ranch to use in a feast later with friends. A San Diego police officer heard scratching noises outside the car and arrested Vong after finding the chickens.

Vong was placed on two years’ probation by Judge Herbert Exarhos and was given credit for five days previously spent in jail. He was also fined $250, but Exarhos ruled that he didn’t have to pay it because of time served in jail.

San Diego Police Officer Douglas Reinhart testified Thursday that he pried open the trunk of Vong’s Ford Maverick and lifted it up slightly after hearing noises inside.

“What did you see when you looked in the trunk?” asked Deputy City Atty. Lori Etherington.

“A chicken staring back at me,” the officer replied.

Reinhart said nine of the chickens in the trunk were dead and that three others died soon afterward. He said there was no ventilation or water inside the trunk.

Etherington estimated that the temperature inside the trunk exceeded 120 degrees. The chickens’ legs’ were tied with string.

Vong’s attorney, Inge Brauer, told jurors the chickens were going to be killed soon anyway because they were meant for consumption.

Vong’s sister, Theary Khem, also of San Diego, was acquitted by the judge after the prosecution rested its case after less than one day of testimony on grounds that there was no testimony linking her to the chickens.

Animal Control Officer William Landry testified that the proper way to transport chickens is in open crates in trucks. Landry said the chickens that were recovered alive from the trunk were “in very poor condition.”

The five-man, seven-woman jury was shown photographs of the 33 chickens in the car trunk. Cambodian interpreters were provided for the defendants during the trial.