The chicken was being exhibited by a student from Drenthe at the Amsterdam School of Art
A court in Amsterdam has sentenced a 56-year-old woman because she had stolen a chicken from the Amsterdam School of Art. The chicken on exhibit there by a student from Drenthe as part of an “art project”.
The woman did not really appreciate the artistic merit of the piece, and took the chicken. But a judge in Amsterdam has now ruled in favor of the artist from Drenthe, and after three years of litigation decided that the woman should not have been allowed to steal the animal. All this is reported by the Drenthe broadcaster RTV Drenthe.
The Amsterdam Court of Appeal sentenced a 56-year-old woman on appeal for theft of a chicken from the University of the Arts in the capital. The case has become known as ‘Jip de kip’. (Jip the Chicken)
The woman has been found guilty but has not received any punishment. Earlier a lower court came to a similar decision.
In January 2016, Rick Busscher, the student from Drenthe, did an experimental art piece with the chicken at his school in Amsterdam. Jip (the chicken) spent a few weeks in a cage in the school to make people aware of their meat consumption. As a follow-up, Rick let his fellow students decide through a poll about Jip’s fate: should he stay alive or should he be slaughtered?
Animal activist Sandra van de Werd of the Committee for Animal Emergency Assistance took the chicken as it sat on display. She put the animal in a travel bag and left her contact details in the chicken coop, along with a bowl of vegetarian chicken pieces.
According to the judge, the circumstances of the chicken were not such that a “rescue” was justified. Van der Werd had taken the law into her own hands, according to the court, and that is not acceptable.
The Court is of the opinion that it is not necessary to impose a punishment, because the theft was committed a long time ago and Van der Werd had a clean criminal record before the theft. Moreover, Jip the chicken was returned shortly after the theft.
