USF prof: Headless goats found Saturday may not be sign of ritual

The chairwoman of the University of South Florida's religious studies department says the recent discovery of headless animals may sound like the result of religious rituals, but appearances can be deceiving.

Volunteers cleaning up the shore along the Courtney Campbell Causeway Saturday discovered a decapitated goat, two decapitated chickens, a machete, and what is described as a voodoo pole.

The discovery sounds like rituals used in Afro-Caribbean religions, such as Santeria, said Dr. Mozella Mitchell, religious studies chairwoman. But she said traditional practice would not include discarding the animal's bodies.

"I would say this is some kind of wayward thing that some people may be doing that aren't even related to the types of rituals that you have in these religions," said Dr. Mitchell.

Mitchell said these religions often include animal sacrifices. The blood is sacrificed to a diety, and then the meat is cooked for a community feast.

"They are fed in a festival celebration of all the people. It's a matter of bringing the community together," she said.

The Tampa Police Department said it can't speculate how the items ended up on the shore.

"Obviously, it's very disturbing when you find animals in this state. But right now there are no active leads in this investigation, so unless someone comes forward and tells us a crime took place, we really have no where to go with this," said spokesperson Andrea Davis.

The decapitated animals were found near the place snorkelers found a cauldron containing a skull in June, 2008. TPD is calling that case an "unexplained death." There were no signs of homicidal violence.

"Fortunately this isn't something we see very often," said Davis. As for the animals, "It did coincide with the coastal clean up, it could have been there for a while, we just don't know."

Mitchell believes this type of activity doesn't sound like traditional relgious practices to her.

"I know that the people who practice these religions legitimately, I'm sure that they are outraged by that kind of action and activity," said Mitchell.