La Rioja (Spain) - During a street festival in Spain , scenes of unbelievable cruelty to animals took place.

A total of 39 young people aged between 17 and 20 were charged on Thursday for allegedly playing soccer with a live chicken, as reported by the local magazine"La Rioja".

Disturbing excerpts from a video of the perpetrators themselves show how a chicken is picked up from the street and then kicked several meters away with a volley. Meanwhile, the poor animal flaps its wings in vain. The chicken abusers also added a stadium emoji and the sadistic caption "Corner" to their video.

It is not known how many of these brutal kicks the flightless farm animal had to endure. As "La Rioja" reported after the incident became known last year, several chickens that had previously been stolen from a farm were even used. At least one of them is said to have survived the atrocities.

The sad incident took place in February 2024 as part of the "Los Quintos" street festival in a municipality in the northern Spanish region of La Rioja. At the time, the Spanish police had already charged two of the perpetrators, a boy (17) and a girl (18). After a complicated investigation, 39 more perpetrators have now been added to the list - over a year later.

The defendants are now facing hefty fines of between 10,000 and 50,000 euros for violating the Animal Welfare Act. A security company that refused to hand over surveillance camera footage for a long time in this case is also facing a hefty fine.