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100 Yom Kippur chickens seized from B'klyn vendors

A Jewish ritual came to a screeching halt yesterday when authorities
seized more than 100 chickens from a Brooklyn lot where the flock of
foul-smelling birds were kept over the High Holy Days.
"It stunk here," said Yisroel Mbrod, 19, of Crown Heights. "It was
terrible."

Thousands of chickens were being sold as part of the ancient kapparah
rite by vendors camped out at a construction site at Coney Island
Ave. and Avenue L in Midwood.

Observant Jews often mark Yom Kippur by waving chickens in a circle
around their heads while saying a prayer. Afterward, they donate the
birds to the poor.

Plenty of people and groups keep and sell small numbers of chickens
for kapparah, insiders say. But things got out of hand at the lot
when passersby complained about the smell, possibly because some
chickens died.

"It's just a misunderstanding," said Rabbi Koby Sonnenfeld.

It was unclear last night whom the chickens belonged to, and no one
was charged. The birds were taken to an ASPCA center.

Permits are required to sell and keep live poultry, and officials
were investigating whether anyone got permission.

http://www.nydailynews.com/10-17-2005/news/local/story/356509p-
303885c.html