It was a beautiful day in Anaheim, California and everything was going swimmingly. A couple of friends and I had just gotten a good meal at the Anaheim Packing District and we all decided to go get a coffee from a local place after. It wasn’t until we had gotten to the corner of Santa Ana Blvd. and Anaheim Blvd. that things didn’t seem quite so cheery. What we stumbled upon that day was in all senses of the word, malicious. To my right lay a trail of store-bought birdseed which led to a small, feathered bump.  What stood before us was a dead pigeon with its head surgically removed, the wound fresh. This begs the question; which animal took its life, a natural predator or a human?

Unfortunately, incidents like this aren’t out of the ordinary for Orange County. Since 1980, beloved pets have been turning up mutilated, abused, and dead all around the area. Since then, there have been several theories as to what exactly is going on. The deaths have struck an emotional chord with several citizens, where their suburb in their eyes has become victimized. Senior Gaby Carrillo has had this issue cross her path several times. “I keep my dog inside when I’m not home and at night, my neighbor’s dog was found cut in half with little to no traces of blood and just a few organs missing. I don’t know who’s doing this, but I don’t know what how I would go around it if it was a murderer or cult.” Even here at MCHS, we can see that the senseless mutilation of these animals affect the day-to- day.

Legend has it that these are the actions of local cults who sacrifice and harm animals for whatever they deem necessary. According to The New York Times, “Sixty-seven victims have been found in the last three months months alone, some of them cut in half with what some say is almost surgical precision, others disemboweled or skinned.” This phenomenon took place in 1989, and yet this problem has ceased to diminish. In an interview with the local news, Janet Hampson of Tustin, who has begun a campaign to pressure the authorities into investigating her theory that human hands are involved, said, ”We always let our cats out. We never had this kind of problem. Why now?”

At the end of the day, these animals were killed. Whether this involved humans or not is up to debate. But to keep your pets safe, make sure to keep them inside at night as well as make sure your pet can’t run away or get out from where you keep it.