Sunday morning, police responded to a home and business in the 2900 block of West Commerce on a report of an injured rooster being kept in a cage with no water or food.
...
As they got closer to the home, police said they found a pigeon with its heart cut out, and other cages holding chickens, hens, pigeons and turtles.
Police said [Diana Patricia] Martinez then came out to explain the injured rooster, telling police the bird got into a fight with another animal.
However, officers said, as they entered the home, they found evidence that Martinez sacrifices animals for religious purposes, and then eats them. In fact, police said the woman was dissecting a chicken when they responded to the call.
Hm. I know chickens taste good, and you often have to cut them up to cook them. I wonder what the evidence is that the animals were specifically for religious purposes.
UPDATE: Well, I guess the evidence is clear when the person says so. (also from the Express-News):
"This is Santeria," said Diana Patricia Martinez, who along with shop co-owner Lee Nelly Morales was arrested and charged with animal cruelty Sunday morning after officers entered their home. "It's a religion."
"Plus, we eat them," she later added in an interview Monday.
That just about settles that question.
2 comments:
It doesn't surprise me at all. I see "indications" of ritual animal sacrifice every now and then when I'm working.
I suppose it's Santeria. That's supposed to involve animal sacrifice. But are there obvious signs that it's religious in nature, something to distinguish the practice from someone who just likes to raise their own chickens for food? I'm genuinely curious because I have no first-hand experience with this religion.
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