News Briefs

Denver County Jury convicts DJ of Animal Cruelty for Instigating Chicken Abuse

Throwing a hen out a window is cruel, Jury tells Denver Disc Jockey

On January 31st, the Denver County District Attorney’s Office successfully prosecuted KBPI radio announcer Steven Meade (“Willie B”), who plays to a teenage crowd, for cruelty to animals, for making a station intern drop a hen from a 30-foot high studio balcony to see if she could fly and to broadcast her reaction on the air. The hen, dropped on Meade’s orders, suffered leg and foot injuries and was unresponsive following the second drop, though apparently she survived, thanks to her rescue by the shelter director of the Denver Dumb Friends League, which filed the cruelty charges against Meade that led to his conviction. A 6-member jury convicted Meade of cruelty to animals for his sadistic stunt, which carries a potential penalty of six to eighteen months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. Meade was scheduled for sentencing on March 12th.

The jury and prosecutor sent a message, not only to the unrepentant Meade, but to his colleagues around the country, that cruelty to an animal for fun, be she a chicken or a chimpanzee, invites prosecution.

United Poultry Concerns is grateful to the Denver County jury and to prosecutor Balkin for their conviction of Steven Meade for sadistically abusing a hen.

• Urge KBPI-FM to fire Steven Meade. He is morally unfit for his job. Contact:
  

  Bob Trigilio, Program Director
  KBPI-FM
  1380 Lawrence, Suite 1300
  Denver, CO 80204
  Ph: 303-893-8500
  Fax: 303-892-4700