A Point Cook school will keep raising chickens and ducks despite an attack on its birds earlier this month.
Offenders broke into an enclosure at Carranballac College’s Jamieson Way campus on October 1, decapitating four chickens and two ducks.
The dead animals were discovered by staff and students the next day.
The birds had been hatched from eggs and raised by pupils in grades 5 and 6.
Teacher John Forrester said pupils had been traumatised by the act of animal cruelty but the school would not be stopping its program.
“It’s not worth stopping the program because of a few irresponsible, immature louts,” he said.
“We have put a lot of work into this. The children get a tremendous amount of learning out of the program.”
The school’s fowls were targeted in September last year, when two of the campus’s six chickens were killed, while two others were injured. The two remaining chickens went missing.
Mr Forrester said the program, which has been running since 2012, gave children without pets at home a chance to interact with animals, while also teaching them about responsibility, nature and growth.
He said grades 5 and 6 pupils looked after the animals with the help of older pupils, while other grades played with them during breaks.
“In the mornings, afternoons or during the school holidays, passers-by love seeing the animals and watching the ducks splashing in the pond. The young ones especially love it,” Mr Forrester said.
He said the school had already received offers from companies keen to help build a more substantial chicken enclosure, and new chickens were due to arrive today.
Anyone with information about the attack is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
