Couple Call It a Barbecue, but Police Suspect Sacrifice Rite

According to Burbank police, they seized dozens of animals just in time to prevent them from becoming ritual sacrifices in a cult ceremony. But Pedro and Graciela Cuervo said the officers only misinterpreted their back-yard barbecue.

Police and the Cuervos told conflicting stories Monday to explain the seizure Saturday of 55 goats, chickens and other animals found in cramped boxes at the couple’s residence in the 600 block of Rosemary Lane.

The Cuervos--Pedro, 65, and Graciela, 55--were arrested on suspicion of cruelty to animals because the animals were kept in tiny boxes and appeared dehydrated and malnourished, Sgt. Don Goldberg said.

Officers responding to a tip that animals were being mistreated at the house found two decapitated quail and a bowl of blood, along with about 10 people dressed in ceremonial robes, he said.

Goldberg said the couple, immigrants from Cuba, practice Santeria, a hybrid of voodoo and Roman Catholicism, and admitted they were preparing to sacrifice the animals in a ceremony to cure Pedro Cuervo of stomach ailments.

But the Cuervos, who speak Spanish, said they admitted no such thing. Speaking through an interpreter Monday afternoon, the couple denied any knowledge of Santeria. “We believe in God,” said Graciela Cuervo.

They conceded planning to dispatch many of the animals, but not as part of a ritual. They said the chickens and quail were to be barbecued, and the bowl of blood police officers described was probably their barbecue marinade.

Their guests were not in ceremonial robes, they said, and the goats were not even part of the dinner plans. They were simply goat-sitting for an acquaintance who planned to return for the animals later that day.

Los Angeles passed an ordinance aimed at followers of Santeria last year, banning the killing of animals for religious purposes, but Burbank has no such ordinance. Goldberg said that had officers not found the animals in such cramped conditions, the couple probably would not have been arrested.

The animals were taken to the Burbank Animal Shelter. “They had three goats in a crate you wouldn’t keep a cocker spaniel in,” said shelter Supt. Fred DeLange.

The animal control officers even seized their pet turtle, the Cuervos said, leaving only their parrot behind. The Cuervos, released on $500 bail each, said they now fear persecution from the police and disdain from friends and neighbors.

And they won’t have another barbecue anytime soon. “No more party,” Graciela Cuervo said.