Bloody Death-Pit or Anti-Santeria Vendetta?

January 1, 2010 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 15 Comments

Things are just getting stranger in the case of a Philadelphia home that was raided by PSPCA officials after complaints about malnourished dogs were made. The home, which contains dead animal remains,  was initially said to be the base of “satanic worship and Santeria rituals”. This later was clarified to simply Santeria, and the home of Santero Ramon Cruz, who is apparently in Mexico recuperating from H1N1 flu. What doesn’t seem to be in dispute among reports is that an awful lot of bones and animal remains have been found.

“The officers found what was believed to be a human skull, but it turned out to be fake. But they did find what appear to be the remains of small monkeys. “The house was covered in bones,” Bengal said … Bengal said the man who lived at the house and probably performed many of the killings is believed to now be in Mexico. However, his wife may still be in the city and she is being sought for questioning, Bengal said.”

From the very beginning I’ve been skeptical of the reports I’ve been receiving because George Bengal, director of law enforcement for the Pennsylvania SPCA, has said some things to the press in the past that make me think he may have some biased notions of what adherents of Santeria (not to mention Satanists) actually do.

“Mr. Bengal said there is usually an increase in ritual animal sacrifices at this time of year because of  “a lot of high holidays that different groups celebrate.” But he said most of those sacrifices involve goats and chickens.”

Then, a commenter on this blog, who claims to know Ramon Cruz, spoke out on the matter.

“Baba Ramon is a highly respected Babalawo. He is not in this country and the person that was watching his dogs for him lost the only key to the house in this country and didn’t know what to do. PSPCA has been called out to Baba’s house in the past so this was no “huge find” for them nor anything that the organization was not clearly aware. They have personally walked through this same house before. It is a nosey neighbor that does not understand our religion that constantly calls PSPCA. This was not an intential act of animal cruelty. Baba Ramon loves his family pets and is completely beside himself that he’s unable to come back stateside to clear this up. This is clearly a case of media hype and public ignorance of our spirituality.”

Since this story emerged, it has now gone international. Getting coverage at CNN, and the Herald Sun in Australia (who re-inserted claims of “Satanism”). We also have more pictures from local news affiliates, though, again, they are more speculative and sensationalist than conclusive as to the true nature of the house.

So we have two competing narratives. One, is that Ramon Cruz, and possibly some others, have been engaged in a twisted orgy of animal sacrifice. Leaving an offal and blood-encrusted house that simply confounds local animal welfare officers.

“Chicken feathers covered the scene, and among the remains were satanic books, buckets of blood and approximately 100 knives, MyFox Philadelphia reported. It was not a one-time act. George Bengal, a director of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told reporters he couldn’t even identify some of the carcasses because they were so badly decomposed. Officers also found an AK-47 assault rifle at the Feltonville, Pennsylvania two-story house, though it was not clear that it had been used to kill any animals, the Philadelphia Daily News reported. “There’s all kinds of stuff in there,” Officer Jerry Czech of the Pennsylvania Game Commission told the paper. “Dead animals, dead critters, wax, feces, candles. It’s a nightmare.” It is not illegal to sacrifice animals for religious purposes as long as it is done humanely, Mr Bengal told reporters.”

The other narrative is that Cruz’s house has long been a target of the PSPCA, and that the malnourished dogs were the casus belli they were looking for in order to take down a known center of Santeria worship. So we have to decide, bloody death-pit, or anti-Santeria vendetta by biased officials? Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between? Reports say that Cruz has been out of the country for nearly a year, could the current state of the house be because no-one was taking care of the place while he has been stuck in Mexico? That certainly makes him negligent, but it also may explain reports of people going through the house, and remains scattered and “smeared” everywhere. Was his house vandalized? Answers may be months in coming. In the meantime, local media are feeding off the controversy, rarely seeking out alternative narratives.

Filed Under: Religion Tagged With: , , , , , , , 15 Comments

Update: Santeria? Satanism? Something Else?

December 29, 2009 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 5 Comments

Since yesterday’s post, more details have emerged regarding a large assortment of dead animal skulls and ritual implements found at a Pennsylvania home by animal welfare officers. According to reports they found an altar consisting of “hundreds” of animal skulls, allegedly including the skulls of primates, sheep, cats, and dogs. Now in a follow-up we learn some more about who may be behind the altar, and some tease-pictures that don’t really show all that much.

“There were lit candles and tribal drum music playing from a portable stereo, indicating that somebody was there not long before the humane officers appeared, said George Bengal, director of law enforcement for the PSPCA. The officers found what was believed to be a human skull, but it turned out to be fake. But they did find what appear to be the remains of small monkeys. “The house was covered in bones,” Bengal said … Bengal said the man who lived at the house and probably performed many of the killings is believed to now be in Mexico. However, his wife may still be in the city and she is being sought for questioning, Bengal said.”

So certainly more than one person? A local ABC affiliate gives us some more information on the man who lives at the house, who is currently believed to be in Mexico.

“Investigators believe the animals were sacrificed as part of religious rituals. Neighbors tell Action News Ramon Cruz lives here. He calls himself a high priest of Santeria, a religion of West African and Caribbean origin. One neighbor, who did not want to be identified, says the stench emanating from the house was unbearable. She never saw the sacrifices, the blinds were always drawn, and Cruz always kept the place protected with security cameras. “I saw 7 cases of live chickens delivered every week.” Authorities are now trying to track down Cruz. They believe he’s in Mexico. They’ve received reports he’s ill with swine flu and unable to re-enter the country but when he does he faces several counts of animal cruelty charges.”

So it is Santeria? But is abusing animals and keeping a bone-yard of dead remains and filth common behavior for a Santero, or adherents to Santeria? Philadelphia Inquirer staff writers Robert Moran and Kia Gregory do the responsible thing and ask an expert.

Bill Ellis, professor emeritus of English literature at Pennsylvania State University at Hazleton, said that in Santeria, devotionals to a deity often include the ritual sacrifice of a goat or a chicken, “but not in a wasteful way” because these are later cooked and eaten. “So, whenever you see a wanton act of animal cruelty, it probably doesn’t lie in religion at all,” Ellis said, “but with people with very serious psychological problems.”

There you have it. The general expert consensus about cases like these that I’ve been maintaining all along. Even if Cruz was or is a practicing Santero, this behavior is aberrant, the product of psychological problems, not a product of the religion. Whether that message sinks through to PSPCA officials, who seem almost excited by their “huge find”, remains to be seen.

Filed Under: Paganism, Religion Tagged With: , , , , , , 5 Comments

Santeria? Satanist? Something Else?

December 28, 2009 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 30 Comments

Here we go again. It was just a couple weeks ago that I expressed some concern over the seemingly misinformed animal control and welfare officers employed in the state of Pennsylvania, and now they’re in the news again over a “huge find” in an abandoned house.

“Police are investigating a case of possible animal cruelty after the remains of 75 animals and a large altar composed of primate skulls were found today inside a house in the city’s Feltonville section. The animals are believed to have been sacrificed as part of satanic worship and Santeria rituals, investigators said. Pentagrams were also seen in the house … George Bengal, director of law enforcement for the Pennsylvania SPCA, said the agency’s officers had entered the living room and found an altar constructed of about 50 primate skulls. “This is a huge find,” Bengal said. Those involved in the rituals “usually take the skull and the feet and the blood and drain the blood from the animal. They’ll drink the blood and use the skull and feet as part of the altar.” Neighbors said that a man in his 50s or 60s lived at the property, but that they had not seen anyone there for months.”

Satanism? Santeria? The “altar” found in the house, and the supposed rituals described in making it, don’t follow traditional practices for either faith (indeed, most modern Satanists don’t even sacrifice animals). I’m also curious as to why this is a “huge find” for them. Because it involves so many animal corpses? Or is it because it fits into certain preconceived notions about what those faiths do with animals? Remember, the George Bengal quoted above is the same George Bengal who recently warned of mysterious Winter “high holidays” where animals were sacrificed in large numbers.

“An animal welfare official says a beheaded dog and cat found in Philadelphia appear to be the result of a ritual sacrifice. George Bengal, Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals director of investigations, said the dog and cat were found … near a bike path in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood along with three beheaded chickens. He said he believes the animals were killed elsewhere and the remains dumped where a passer-by found them. Mr. Bengal said there is usually an increase in ritual animal sacrifices at this time of year because of “a lot of high holidays that different groups celebrate.” But he said most of those sacrifices involve goats and chickens.”

So never mind that various experts in religion and animal abuse cases agree that “huge finds” like this usually aren’t manifestations of Santeria or Satanism, but of disturbed individuals (often teens) who usually construct a hodge-podge of half-understood ritualism to justify their aberrant urges and behaviors. Why go with the boring old truth when you can create a darkly sinister religious “other” to battle? Why listen to experts when you can hector innocent Satanists on bogus abuse charges instead? I would really like to know who exactly is training animal control officers and local ASPCA officials in Pennsylvania concerning ritual sacrifice. Do they even know what a normal Santeria ritual is like? Have they even met a real Satanist? This current trend could be heading for a train-wreck of racial and religious profiling that could seriously damage the effectiveness of animal control officials among minority faiths. After all, why report a co-religionist who’s abusing animals if they’ll just think you’re in on it too?

Filed Under: Paganism, Religion Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 30 Comments

Round Up the Usual (Animal Cruelty) Suspects

December 15, 2009 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 34 Comments

Who abuses animals? It isn’t an easy answer. People engaged in cruelty towards animals can come from all walks of life, and may look completely normal to most people. Because it can be hard to spot someone who is actively abusing an animal, an unfortunate stereotyping seems to have emerged that targets religions that engage in animal sacrifice, and faiths/philosophies that fit into certain sensationalist fantasies (ie Satanism, Witchcraft). How else can you explain quotes like the following?

“An animal welfare official says a beheaded dog and cat found in Philadelphia appear to be the result of a ritual sacrifice. George Bengal, Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals director of investigations, said the dog and cat were found … near a bike path in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood along with three beheaded chickens. He said he believes the animals were killed elsewhere and the remains dumped where a passer-by found them. Mr. Bengal said there is usually an increase in ritual animal sacrifices at this time of year because of “a lot of high holidays that different groups celebrate.” But he said most of those sacrifices involve goats and chickens.”

Despite George Bengal’s bizarre statement about Winter-holiday animal-killings, most experts, including officials at the ASPCA, agree that dead animals left in public places usually aren’t put there by Santeros, Pagans, or Satanists, but by disturbed individuals and messed-up kids.

“According to experts, like local anthropologist and folklorist Dr. Eoghan Ballard, and Dr. Randall Lockwood, senior vice president of anti-cruelty services for the American SPCA, sacrificial remains found in parks, especially those adorned with talismans like candles or pennies, are most often the work of religious novices, teens or satanic dabblers.”

Yet, in the same article, a PSPCA official warns adherents of faiths that practice animal sacrifice that there is no  “free pass on animal cruelty issues”, as though all the very public court battles over the issue were simply done so these priests and priestesses could secretly torture animals with impunity. Do Pennsylvania SPCA officials have some sort of special hostility towards minority faiths? That seems to be the assertion of the Rev. Jack Winters, who claims a Humane Society Police Officer and member of the Lycoming County SPCA, while investigating a report that he mistreated his pets, repeatedly stated that Satanists sacrifice animals while noting Winters’ Satanic-themed decor.

Is it just some sort of strange synchronicity that all of these quoted SPCA officials are from Pennsylvania, or is there something else at play here? Are these PA organizations being fed misinformation by  the sort of “cult experts” in “ritualistic crime” thoroughly debunked by Pagan activist, and former Vancouver police officer, Kerr Cuhulain? Or is it a case of fossilized “common knowledge” passed down from the Satanic Panic era? Whatever the case may be, one has to wonder how many animal welfare agencies across this country have been tainted by bad information, superstition, and religious bias. How many officials are out hunting for Satanists or Santeros when they should be paying attention to the neglected and abused children most likely to engage in animal abuse. Just think how much good they could do solving these cases if they weren’t so busy telling police to round up the usual suspects.

Filed Under: Paganism Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 34 Comments
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