Animal carcasses found on beaches

Laguna Beach police continue to be baffled by a series of headless animals that have washed up on the city’s beaches since last Thursday.

So far, two goats, three hens, one rooster, and a dove or pigeon have been found on the sand, Sgt. Jason Kravetz said. All the animals were decapitated. The goats had been stuffed inside identical bulk onion bags but the other carcasses were not covered.

“We are disturbed by the find and are investigating the incident,” Kravetz said.

The carcasses began showing up on the beaches Nov. 8. A decapitated chicken and a headless goat were found last Thursday around 2 p.m. at Picnic Beach in the 400 block of Cliff Drive by beachgoers, Kravetz said.

Another headless goat carcass and two chicken carcasses were found at Sleepy Hollow beach, about a half-mile south of Picnic Beach around 4 p.m. the same day. Five days later, at 9 a.m. Nov. 13, another headless chicken, believed to be a rooster, was reported at Heisler Park below the lawn bowling area in the vicinity of the first findings.

  Smaller bird found below Heisler Park gazebo

A woman found a dove or pigeon, also headless, in a cove below the gazebo at Heisler Park at noon Wednesday.

Police believe the carcasses, which were soggy, likely washed up from the ocean, Kravetz said.

“We think they washed up because of the extremely high tide we had last week,” he said. “We have had no reports of unusual occurrences on the beach.”

Kravetz said it appears the beheadings occurred elsewhere because no blood or implements have been found in the vicinity of the carcasses.

  Reward offered by Animal Defense Council

The Animal Defense Council of Tucson, Ariz., is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the animals’ beheadings.

“The person who committed this brutal act of animal cruelty should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Carmine Caramone, the group’s director, stated in an e-mail.

“Cruelty against animals is often an indicator of future violence against humans,” Caramone added.

  Nothing similar in other cities

Laguna Beach is the only city so far reporting headless animal carcasses on the beach, Kravetz said.

“We contacted the Animal Cruelty Task Force in L.A., Newport Beach and other beach cities, and there is nothing similar in other areas,” he said.

Kravetz said the incident has caused alarm in Laguna Beach.

“People are calling. People are upset that animals are being killed,” Kravetz said.

Kravetz said whoever killed and dumped the animals could be guilty of felony animal cruelty.

Police are collecting the carcasses and working with the Animal Control department to investigate the incidents.

“We are looking at the bodies to see if they were dead before they were beheaded,” Kravetz said.

No paraphernalia was found on the Laguna Beach locations that might indicate the cause or purpose of the beheadings.

The onion bags are one of the investigators’ only solid clues. The bags are for Royal purple onions with a “produce of U.S.A.” label.

“We are trying to track down the company that distributed the onions,” Kravetz said.

  Varied theories

Kravetz said police are looking into the possibility that the decapitations could be a Halloween prank, or that fishermen have been using the animals’ blood to attract game fish in the ocean.

The other possibility is that the decapitations are ritual killings such as those performed in Santeria, a Caribbean religion that involves animal sacrifice.

Another possibility is that a large ocean-going ship had dumped carcasses far out to sea after deciding not to use them for meat.

Kravetz said police have contacted the city’s goat herder to see if any goats have been missing, but all the goats are accounted for.

Anyone with information about the carcasses should call Laguna Beach Police at (949) 497-0701.