In the small village of Pomona, New York, something disturbing happened recently: Locals discovered garbage bags on the side of the road that were filled with the corpses of 25 animals that had either been decapitated or mutilated in some other horrific manner.

Ann Marie Gaudio, president of the Hudson Valley Humane Society (HVHS), described the gruesome, emotionally traumatizing scene: “I saw chickens that clearly had their heads torn off because all the feathers were gone, and the goat absolutely struggled because it had a stab wound in its thigh and was degloved — its skin was removed. That is the sign of a struggle.”

She continued, “I will always think back on this and wonder at the lack of empathy that someone could possibly have to think that this was acceptable.”

Judging by the fact that torture was inflicted on the more than two dozen innocent creatures before they were slaughtered, experts called on by the HVHS to interpret possible motivations for the disturbing act suspect that the animals were sacrificed in some sort of ritual, perhaps done by practicers of a religion called Santeria.

According to retired NYPD Detective Marcos Quinones, a cult/occult specialist, “It could be an initiation. It also could be the cleansing — spiritual, physical or mental  — of a person. It also could be to pay homage to the god or goddess you worship, or a ceremony to that god or goddess.”

At the end of the day, no matter what drove the perpetrators to commit this heinous act, what they did was not only extremely cruel but also illegal — torturing livestock is against the law in New York. Even so, local police have not made it a priority to catch these individuals and bring them to justice.

If you agree that we MUST locate these people and charge them with animal cruelty, please sign this Care2 petition urging the New York State Police to search for these individuals until they are found. We owe it to the 25 animals brutally tortured and killed at the hands of these people to make sure they are justly punished and can never again hurt another living creature!

Image Source: Pixabay