SASKATOON – A series of cattle mutilations near St. Paul, Alta., has farmers in the area scared and skeptical.
Fern Bellsville, a St. Paul area farmer who describes himself as a “skeptical type of guy” has seen eight mutilations since June. He is not convinced of a theory blaming natural predators or scavengers for the mutilations.
Stretching from St. Paul in northeastern Alberta to northwestern Sask-atchewan, most mutilations have been similar with sex organs and other soft tissue appearing to have been cut off, not eaten or torn off as would have been the case with scavengers, he said. As well, he said scavengers don’t normally go near dead animals for a few days and most of the cows were found soon after they died.
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Scavengers possible
St. Paul area veterinarian Craig Hellquist said he believes coyotes or other scavengers ate the soft tissue on the animals after the cattle died.
Bellsville recently returned from a trip to northwestern Saskat-chewan, where he and several researchers from the United States took samples of mutilated animals. He refused to identify the researchers or their organization.
There have been autopsies conducted on some of the mutilated animals in the past, but Bellsville said they were unable to shed any light on the incidents. There is usually little blood or other evidence on the ground around the animals.
“People are scared in these areas,” Bellsville said, adding speculation on the causes ranges from cults to UFOs.
Parts missing
Felix Smyl, a farmer near St. Paul, found one of his cows dead in a field missing its eyes, tongue, one ear and sex organs.
“At first you don’t really think anything of it,” said Smyl. But he added about five cows have been discovered in similar condition during the past few years, always sometime in the fall.
Cst. Rory Melgarde of the St. Paul RCMP said the mutilations seem random and he doesn’t know who or what is responsible.
The cases are similar to a rash of mutilations in southern Alberta in 1979 in which animals had their eyes, tongues and sex organs removed. Calgary police show 38 confirmed cases between August 1979 and the summer of 1980. A few cases of mutilations were confirmed in Saskatchewan at the same time.
Calgary RCMP believed a cult was responsible for the incidents, but no one was arrested.
Because there is no compensation for farmers who lose cattle in mutilation cases and because police haven’t had any luck in finding answers, many cases may go unreported.
