"'Chupacabra' May Be Mexican Dog"

You don't say.

The strange animal in the hands of a Blanco taxidermist has been speculated as being the mythical chupacabra. But that mysterious finding may not be much of a mystery at all. Some have speculated it could be a breed of dog called the Xoloitzcuintle, also known as a Xolo.

“It’s been around for about 3,000 years in Mexico,” said Rhett Rushing, a folklorist at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio.

The Xolo is a type of dog native to Mexico and Central America, and was considered a sacred dog in the Aztec culture. It bears similar resemblance to the gray hairless animal that is turning up all over South Texas.

But, of course, there is added strangeness, even if the animal is just a Mexican dog and not a chupacabra.

“It was bred by the Aztecs both as a food source and a companion guardian, and it also had healing powers,” said Rushing.

(from KSAT-12)

A food source and healing powers. But, was it necessary to eat the thing to take advantage of those powers? I am genuinely curious.

(Previous Blanco chupacabra post here.)