'Ritualistic Sacrifice' Decapitated Chicken, Goat Found At Cemetery On LI: SPCA

MIDDLE ISLAND, NY — The decapitated heads of a chicken and a goat were found at Union Cemetery in Middle Island this week, the Suffolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Saturday.

A man walking his dog near the entrance of the cemetery discovered a bag containing a beheaded chicken on Wednesday, and then SPCA Detectives later found the skeletal remains of a goat head, a variety of fruits, vegetables, and candles "indicative of animal sacrifice which involves the killing and offering of an animal as part of a religious ritual," the society said.

The SPCA was contacted Oct. 17, for another "grisly" find— the remains of a beheaded chicken, a black rooster, and a white dove that were placed in a circular pattern in the cemetery, in which they are also describing as a "ritualistic sacrifice."

SPCA Chief Roy Gross noted that in August two decapitated chickens were found in front of a headstone nearby at Old Baptist Cemetery in Coram. It was reported to the agency by Suffolk police, he said.

A $2,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for "these barbaric act of animal cruelty for unjustifiably harming, mutilating, or killing an animal," according to Gross.

"All too many times these gruesome finds are discovered not only by adults but occasionally by children," he said. "These acts of violence must stop now."

Gross encouraged anyone who might have witnessed an incident of animal cruelty or neglect in Suffolk to contact the SPCA at (631) 382-7722.