- Primera Hora (newspaper)
- December 3, 2004
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- Eleven goats were found dead inside their wooden pen,
which forms part of the petting zoo of the "Illusion" children's
park on the premises of the Montehiedra Town Center in Rio Piedras (San
Juan, PR).
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- The discover was made by tFausto Radaelli, he person
in charge of the petting zoo and its owner.
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- According to the explanation given by Radaelli to PRIMERA
HORA, he took 11 goats to the kiddie park last Monday because he was attempting
to recreate a manger scene for the Christmas holiday.
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- He placed them in a wooden pen in the open air so they
could spend the night there. But they were found lifeless on Wednesday
morning.
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- Three of the goats presented large bite marks, dismemberment
and one of them had half of its body devoured; all of its internal organs,
excepting its stomach, were gone.
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- The rest of the goats had bite marks and fang marks on
the rear of their bodies. The marks resembled the ones found on animals
allegedly attacked by the infamous "Chupacabras".
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- The goats had their necks twisted backward and rigor
mortis had not set in 48 hours after their deaths.
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- According to biologist Ernesto Marquez, a specialist
in exotic animals, the goats were attacked by "a wolf, a coyote, a
hybrid (wolf-dog hybrid) or very large feral dogs."
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- Marquez says that these animals exist on the island and
knows that they are trafficked and even advertised in newspaper classifieds.
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- The expert's theory is sustained by the carnivore's modus
operandi. "These are regular fang marks. Canids kill animals by the
rear, seizing them to hold them down and eat them."
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- Marquez dismissed the possibility that the goats may
have been slain by a feline, since "these kill from the throat, strangling
[their prey], dragging it off. This was a canid."
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- He added that "the animal leaped; it is an agile
animal, attacking from the rear. It's astute and knows human beings. It
came around when there was no one around and returned on the next day,
when there was no one either. He explained that this animal has wild instincts
and that not even animals in Africa, at large in their own habitat, kill
so much prey to eat only one.
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- "This is vicious. The animal isn't psychologically
well," maintained the biologist, who also belongs to the SPCA.
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- Yesterday, the site was being examined by Marquez, Julio
Diaz of the Animal Control Solutions company and veterinary technician
Herman Sulsona of the San Juan Animal Control Center.
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- There were no signs of forcible entry. No prints nor
hairs of any other animal were found.
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- Radaelli also has a pony, Dutch hens and sheep at the
petting zoo; at his farm in Carolina, where he raises these animals, he
has dwarf cows, a burro and other goats, which the occasionally brings
to the park.
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- The park, which has been operating since May 8th and
will remain until January 31st, has no security of any kind. Yesterday,
after removing the dead goats, the park was reopened to the public after
6 pm. Specialists cautioned the park's custodians that the animal may
return, and advised that the animals be kept inside a trailer, or else
removed from the site.
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- Last night, Martinez and Radaelli were expected to authorize
Diaz and Marquez to stay overnight at the location with the specialized
equipment needed to hunt the predator. Diaz informed PRIMERA HORA that
they have been given confidential information that in the vicinity of Caimito
and Montehiedra there are "wealthy persons who traffic in exotic animals,and
lions, tigers and pumas can also be found."
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- Translation (c) 2004. Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic
Ufology. Special thanks to Lucy Guzmán.
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