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Livescience_2013 05622.txt

#Real Cause of'Satanic Sacrifice'Pony Found A pony found in Dartmoor England in July apparently died under mysterious and horrific circumstances: It had been mutilated and several of its organs were missing which fueled speculation that it was killed in some sort of satanic or pagan ritual sacrifice. The 2-month-old male pony apparently had its genitals eyes tongue and one ear removed. The death seemed very sinister and mysterious leading Dartmoor's livestock-protection officer to speculate that witches or devil worshippers were responsible. This theory in turn sparked fears about the people who would kill and dismember a young pony. Now the mystery has been solved. Witches & Wiccans: 6 Common Misconceptions Devon and Cornwall police concluded earlier this week that the pony had died of natural causes. The much-discussed mutilation was not in fact mutilation at all but instead the normal result of wild animals eating the pony's organs and scattering its entrails. Initial media reports linked the death of the pony to satanic cults and ritualistic killing the police said in a statement. The police have sought the advice of experts and have come to the view that the death of this pony was through natural causes. All the injuries can be attributed to those caused by other wild animals. This incident received significant media reporting some of which was clearly sensationalist. Mysterious predation? But if the pony died of natural causes what about the claims and rumors of satanic or pagan sacrifices? How did those come about? Part of the answer as the police noted is surely that the animal-sacrifice angle made the story sensational and interesting. As long as people (especially officials) are willing to publicly speculate about whether there are groups of evil people lurking in their community looking for a chance to kill and ritually sacrifice animals especially ones as cute and beloved as ponies there's little wonder why the media ran with it. The larger question is why didn't locals and the livestock-protection officer recognize the signs of ordinary predation? After all presumably dead animals are not uncommon on farms and ranches; surely a livestock official would be able to tell the difference between an animal that died of natural causes and was set upon by scavengers and an animal carefully killed in some sort of ritual sacrifice right? Spooky! Top 10 Unexplained Phenomena Not necessarily for several reasons. One problem is that most ranchers and livestock officials have no idea what occurs in a real animal ritual sacrifice so they can hardly make a valid comparison. Though animal sacrifice has been a part of many religions (including Christianity Judaism and Islam) these days the practice is limited mostly to Afro-Caribbean religions such as Santerã a which has very specific procedures and rituals for the sacrifice (and typically sacrifice chickens or goats not horses). In fact the butchered remains of a goat and two roosters found in Miami's South Beach this year were thought by some to be a Santerã a ritual sacrifice. Of course with something as mysterious and clandestine as suspected satanists anything could be assumed to be the result of their sinister actions. Forensic analysis Since no one was around when the pony died it's impossible to know what exactly killed it; suspects include wild animals disease or even lightning. The fact is scavenger animals eat soft tissues of the body first including the parts missing from the pony: the genitals eyes tongue and ears. Since the pony had been dead for several days before its body was found there was plenty of time for birds maggots blowflies and other carrion-eating animals to scavenge on or even carry off these mysteriously missing body parts. Dale A. Wade an extension wildlife specialist with the Texas A&m University Research and Extension Center in San Angelo Texas is co-author of Procedures for Evaluating Predation on Livestock and Wildlife (Agrilife Extension Texas A & M System 2010). In his book Wade points out thatranchers and even livestock experts may not recognize what killed an animal since it is often difficult or impossible to determine the cause of death simply by looking at or even by handling a dead animal. Instead to determine what killed the animal the person studying the body should examine carcasses for wounds hemorrhage bruises broken bones and feeding. If necessary the entire carcass should be skinned and opened to identify internal wounds and other factors which help confirm the cause of death. For example some animals are killed by a single grip at the throat which causes suffocation but leaves little external evidence. Knowledge and skill are often necessary to determine the cause of injuries or death. None of these examinations was done at the time. The misidentification of normal animal predation is a common element in mysterious animal deaths such as cattle mutilations and even suspected attacks by chupacabra a legendary bloodsucking creature often blamed for weird livestock deaths. At its heart this is an example of a logical fallacy called argument from ignorance (drawing a conclusion from a lack of evidence. In other words just because the pony's cause of death was unknown doesn't logically mean the animal was sacrificed by satanists witches or anyone else; it simply means the cause of death was unknown. Though the case resulted in some red faces the best news that can be drawn from the incident is that the pony died naturally and was not the victim of foul play. Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and author of six books including Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries and Hoaxes Myths and Manias: Why We Need Critical Thinking. His website is Benjaminradford. com. Followâ Livescience@livescience Facebookâ & Google+.+Original article onâ Livescience n

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