Cults or coincidence; Mutilation of animals in local suburbs sparks local fear
Mutilated animals like these have been popping up for years.
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.

Fun Facts:
I have about 800 hours on Fallout.
I've been skateboarding since I was 7.
My favorite band is Cage the Elephant.
Zachary Elson • Oct 22, 2020 at 5:00 pm
It was crazy thinking about how people would want to do this to small animals
Alondra Luis • Apr 26, 2019 at 12:15 pm
It is crazy to think that people can be killing these animals for several years. This article was very interesting:)
Sarah Gutierrez • Apr 26, 2019 at 12:14 pm
This was very interesting to read, but also a little scawy because I wonder how I would’ve felt if I found something like that out of nowhere.
Hailey Gomez • Apr 26, 2019 at 12:12 pm
It’s crazy how this is happening to so many animals, but most of us are barely hearing about it.
Jose Regalado • Apr 26, 2019 at 12:11 pm
This is horrible. just how people would brutalize animals for any reason is bad. Thankfully people are trying to do something about this.
Angel Hernandez • Apr 26, 2019 at 12:11 pm
This is the reason many civilians of Santa Ana are paranoid of each other because every can have a smile on their face but it’s what underneath that has them worried. Good thing at least we acknowledge it and can be more prepared for anything similar to this.
Erick Villalobos • Apr 26, 2019 at 12:05 pm
I dont see anyway how a natural predator would be able to mutilate animals with such precision so I hope that we find the person or group that is behind this before it becomes an even bigger problem.