Ban Urged on Religious Sacrificing, Maiming of Animals

Alarmed by the increasing discoveries of disfigured animal carcasses, Los Angeles officials are studying a proposed ordinance that would outlaw the sacrifice and maiming of animals for religious purposes.

The law, backed by animal rights activists, would in effect discourage the practices of Santeria, a secretive Afro-Cuban religion that authorities say is apparently on the rise in Los Angeles. It would also outlaw similar practices by Satanic cults.

Practitioners of Santeria--described by authorities as a hybrid of voodoo and Roman Catholicism--kill goats, sheep and chickens in a variety of rituals. In Los Angeles, there is no law to prevent sacrificial killings if the animals are killed in a “humane” manner, authorities say.

Arthur Margolis, a member of the city’s Board of Animal Regulation, proposed the ordinance at a meeting of the board this week. The board is considering the proposal.

The Humane Society of the United States is promoting a model ordinance for municipalities nationwide that carries penalties of up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000 for those convicted of engaging in animal sacrifice.

“There are certain religious practices that are just offensive to the area in which you live,” said Charlene Drennon, West Coast director of the animal protection group.

Florida Law

The proposed Los Angeles ordinance is based on a Hialeah, Fla., law that is being challenged by Santeria devotees as a violation of First Amendment rights to freely practice their religion. Santeria followers are typically discreet about their beliefs and practices, authorities say. The organized Hialeah group is an exception.

In interviews, Los Angeles animal control officers said there is no question that there has been a marked surge in discoveries of disfigured animals in recent years.

“Animals are being turned up by animal control agencies with severed heads, sev ered feet, surgeon-like cuts in the abdominal area,” said Lt. Charles Reed, investigations supervisor for the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “It’s quite apparent these animals are not being hit by cars or eaten by coyotes.”

Acknowledging most evidence to be anecdotal, Reed said animal sacrifices are “becoming more commonplace clear across the country.” “And we are talking about a type of activity where people are not going to discuss it.”

Police Authority

Los Angeles Police Detective Patrick Metoyer, considered an authority on occult practices, said many of the discoveries suggest that the animals were used in Santeria rituals. The religion, with roots in the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria, is practiced widely in Cuba, Haiti and Brazil.

Los Angeles is reportedly the third-largest U.S. center of Santeria, after Miami and New York. Sociologists believe there may be more than 50,000 Santeria devotees in the Los Angeles area, centered mostly in Cuban immigrant communities. Attempts to reach Santeria members for comment in Los Angeles and elsewhere were unsuccessful.

Santeria uses animals in various rituals, Metoyer said. In a “cleansing” ritual, for example, a so-called holy person would decapitate a chicken, drain its blood on a believer, then wipe the blood off with the feathered body of the chicken, the detective said.

Police and animal control officers say they have encountered Santeria devotees in a variety of circumstances.

Most recently, authorities raided a Hawthorne home last week, seizing a yard full of animals--22 chickens, two goats, a piglet, a lamb--that they said were malnourished and infested with lice. They also found several chicken carcasses, four goatskins and dried blood, indicating that the animals had been slaughtered in the yard.

Authorities said the evidence suggested Santeria practices, but the owner of the animals denied that she was a devotee.

Last fall, Reed said, officers found six goats bound and fettered in the bathroom and several chickens in a house in Culver City. Religious icons and candles suggested the house to be used in Santeria. The owners were charged with animal cruelty violations, Reed said.

“We were able to recover them before, in all probability, they would be used for sacrifices,” Reed said.

Metoyer said it has become increasingly common, especially in Latino neighborhoods, for police during investigations to discover animal blood, suggesting Santeria.

Satanic cults also practice animal sacrifices, often torturing them in the process, Metoyer said.

Devil worshipers, the detective said, often kill cats and rub their bodies with cat blood in the belief that they can “amass power” through the ritual.