In a video shared on Instagram, Handling said the customers arrived at the Tartan Fox in Newquay last Sunday (26 July), allowed their dog off-lead, despite signs asking canines to remain on a lead, resulting in a number of the on-site chickens being injured.
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The chef outlined how some of the chickens later died, despite being nursed by the team for several days.
He went on to claim the children entered the chicken coop, where the pub’s rooster had been fertilising eggs to rear more chicks and “completely smashed” up to 40 of the fertilised eggs.
Really quite sad
According to the operator, 30 to 40 eggs were smashed against a nearby tree.
Handling shared the news on social media, describing the behaviour as “completely unacceptable
In a video shared on Instagram, Handling, who has a number of pubs and restaurants including the Loch & the Tyne in Old Windsor, said: “On Sunday, we had a couple of guests that just allowed their dog off their lead, where there’s signs everywhere saying ‘please keep your dogs on a lead, chickens are everywhere’, to just attack our chickens.
“A few of them died...after being nursed for the past couple of days, which is really quite sad.”
Unnecessary suffering
Furthermore, the chef said the chickens were part of the pub family.
He added: The selfish actions of a few people have caused unnecessary suffering and, heartbreakingly, the loss of some of our girls."
Handling opened the Tartan Fox in June 2024 and the pub is currently number 41 on the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs list.
It joined the Loch & the Tyne in Old Windsor, number 48 on the list, as well as restaurants Frog in Covent Garden, London as well as Ugly Butterfly in Cornwall and Eve bar, also in Covent Garden.
