[nilesfunnies] Merseyside mourns chicken

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/25/dead_chicken_tribute/

Merseyside mourns dead chicken
Floral tributes for poultry foetus
By Lester Haines
Published Tuesday 25th October 2005 09:39 GMT

Merseyside police have ordered the local community to "stop grieving"
after Liverpudlians flocked to deposit flowers, cards and teddy bears in
tribute to a dead chicken found in an alleyway. According to the BBC,
one card read: "RIP Little Baby. Safe in the arms of Jesus. From someone
who is a loving mother xxxx."

A spokeswoman for Merseyside police explained to the BBC: "It seems a
member of the public saw the remains of a foetus, which possibly
resembled a human foetus, and called us. We cordoned off the area to
investigate, as we would with any possible suspicious death, but it
became apparent it was not a human foetus. The flowers and cards are
obviously the result of local gossip, but we can assure people that the
remains were not human."

Accordingly the Old Bill on Monday issued a "stop grieving, it's only a
chicken" edict. The BBC rather unfairly concludes by noting that
Spectator editor Boris Johnson last year attracted a hailstorm of flack
for condemning Liverpudlians as "hooked on grief". ®