A chicken shot and a butcher: the story of a curious and faithful friendship in Medellín

Two butchers from the Santa Monica neighborhood, in western Medellín, who live on memories and an old business, offered their friendship to a chicken. An animal, which is generally rejected by those who see it, found a friend who, far from prejudice due to its scavenger nature, gave him an identity and his affection.

José Rogelio Pérez is the name of the 60-year-old butcher, according to journalist Mauricio López in the magazine Universo Centro. He works alongside Aldemar Osorno, 75, who inherited 28 years ago the carnage of Santa Monica, close to half a century of existence, of whom he remembers as “the best boss that anyone will ever have”.

The story has been told by Rogelio to several friends, curious and journalists, with the excitement of the countless memories that accompany old age. It started four years ago when the bird reached one of the poles in front of the butcher shop and conquered it.

Pérez does not explain why he called him curious and instead of scaring him away, he offered him some pieces of meat. The animal, cautious and stealthy approached, devoured the prey and returned to the roof of a neighboring house. Then he left. It seemed like an anecdotal scene, but it has been repeated almost every other day and a relationship has been forged between the butcher and the chicken coop.

The pimp is the smallest of the vultures, according to the Eafit university classification. In Colombia they live throughout the national territory, in towns and cities. Some are solitary, but it is a social bird that usually forms into small groups or large flocks, which some bird guides describe with fierce loyalty to their family that they maintain for long periods of time.

They are scavengers, and they also eat some fruits. Although they can hunt small, young or defenseless animals, they prefer that the “dirty work” be done by others and settle for the remains, due to their long, thin beaks. Its appearance can be elegant, with the black color of its plumage and some white under the wings, the head bare greyish and the legs of the same color.

However, Rogelio says that “there is pure racism” against these birds, he told El Colombiano. Some see it as a lack of hygiene, they point out that feathers generate warts or that they mean death. On the other hand, he considers them valuable, because they show the air currents to the paragliders or warn the peasants when a cow is going to give birth.

The first thing that struck him about the animal that arrived at the butcher shop was the way he looked at it and approached it. With the most frequent visits, he noticed that he was missing a fingernail and that is why he gave him the name 'Mocho', although when he saw him he says' mochito ',' negro ', 'king'.

Their meetings are those sporadic visits. When the bird arrives at the butcher shop, Rogelio looks at its paws and realizes that it is his friend, he takes out some pieces of meat, admires him, talks to him while the animal turns its head paying attention, eats, rests and takes flight again.

Even for some time, she told Universo Centro magazine, she accompanied a frequent customer from the butcher shop to the house, waiting for her to feed her, like the dances that the herd gives in the air when identifying a bait.

For the butcher Pérez, that scavenger bird, which some people attribute to him as a cure for cancer, is a life-giving animal. That is why he is confident that his friendship can last another long years and maintain the carnage so that they can be found.

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