BY SAM WOOD & ROBERT MORAN OF THE INQUIRER A fowl prank has closed a Philadelphia high school, canceling classes today for 3,600 students. About 50 to 75 “full-blown live chickens” were discovered roaming the halls of Northeast Philadelphia High School this morning as faculty arrived before dawn.
“They’ve created quite a mess,” said Fernando Gallard, spokesman for the school district. “It’s going to take us at least a day to clean up.”
The cackling hens and roosters were let into the school on Cottman Avenue over the weekend. Video surveillance shows that multiple culprits gained entry into the school about 9:30 p.m. Sunday to release the chickens and spread chicken feed on the floors, Gallard said. Any break-in is supposed to trigger an alarm, but the caper was not discovered until 5 a.m. by a janitor, Gallard said. How the perpetrators got into the building and why the alarm apparently did not go off is still under investigation. [via INQUIRER]