Parrot, Once Pure, Killed for Swearing

Slayer Fined For Executing Individual With Human Traits

EVANSTON, Ill., July 1.—When a parrot teaches itself to swear it becomes an Individual with human traits instead of just a parrot. This is the decision of Justice of the Peace H. G. Williams.

Rutheda, the parrot of Mrs. Bertha Flugge, “was the purest and most clean-minded thing I ever saw” before it flew away from her, according to Mrs. Flugge.

Ferdinand Kutz, however, claimed he had been forced to kill the bird after finding it because it swore like a mule driver and embarrassed him in company.

“The bird must have learned to swear by itself,’’ Justice Williams decided. “No one has a right to shoot an individual with human traits, so I must fine Kutz $5 for killing the bird without a license.”

Birmingham Age-Herald, Birmingham, AL, July 2, 1923

$5 fine

While that may not sound like a lot, the 2024 equivalent is around $100.

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