Police in Nova Scotia are investigating after a break-in at a poultry farm led to the deaths of thousands of chickens, leaving the owners of the farm devastated, according to CBC News.
Officers say they are still searching for suspects following the break and enter, adding that the people who broke in did not take anything from the farm.
Instead, according to police, the intruders turned off the ventilation system in part of the poultry farm barn.
The barn had two levels. On the lower level, where the ventilation system was switched off, 10,000 chickens died, while on the upper level the ventilation stayed on and those chickens survived.
With the ventilation shut off on the bottom level, the temperature climbed to around 37 degrees, killing the birds housed there.
Officials said farm workers were able to smell that there was a problem when they woke up the next day, before they opened the doors to the barn to see what lay inside.
Investigators noted that the case involves animal cruelty as well as financial loss, saying the deaths are not only about income, and that turning off the system triggered the spike in temperature.
The barn is located just outside Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, about an hour's drive from Halifax, and police are asking anyone with information, including drivers who may have had a dash cam running while passing the barn, to come forward.