A week after True News USA posted the news story about Sheriff Tom Dart's pet chicken being raped and murdered at the Cook County Jail, the Chicago Sun-Times final publishes the news story - A chicken dies at the Cook Co. jail — and rumors fly about possible culprit

19th Ward Blogger is neither confirming or denying he tipped off the Sun-Times.

There have been murders before in the Cook County Jail — but those victims were never this particular kind of jailbird.

On July 19, a hen was found dead in a chicken coop built at the jail as part of a job-training program. The chicken was found disemboweled and was missing feathers.

Almost two months later, rumors continue to swirl at the Cook County courthouse at 26th and California that a person may have sexually assaulted the chicken.

But Sheriff Tom Dart said there’s no evidence of that — or even that a human killed the chicken. Guards and inmates with access to the chicken coop have been interviewed and none shed any light on how the hen died, Dart said.

“There is no evidence of a sick person doing this,” he said. “The most likely explanation is that it was killed by another animal, most likely a rat.”

The chicken’s death highlights an unconventional training program Dart has created for non-violent inmates who also tend a 60,000-square-foot garden and take care of a fish farm.

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