Bizarre conspiracy theories after bulls found dead with blood removed
Mystery shrouds what caused the death of bulls found in a gully with their genitals, tongues and blood removed.
The first bull was found dead in a timbered ravine in the US state of Oregon in July.
There was no indication it had been shot, attacked by predators or had eaten poisonous plants.
In the next few days, four more Hereford bulls were found within 2.5 kilometres in the same condition.
There were no tracks around the carcasses.
Ranch management and law enforcement suspect that someone killed the bulls. Ranch hands have been advised to travel in pairs and to go armed.
Ever since the bulls were found over several days in July, Harney County sheriff’s Deputy Dan Jenkins has received many calls and emails from people speculating what, or who, might be responsible.
The theories range from scavengers such as carrion bugs eating the carcasses to people attacking the animals to cause financial harm to ranchers.
Sheriff Jenkins, who is leading the investigation that also involves state police, has run into only dead ends and has no witnesses.
“If anyone has concrete information or knows of any cases that have been solved in the past, that would definitely be helpful,” he said.
Theories UFOs or cults could be responsible
Colby Marshall, vice president of the Silvies Valley Ranch that owned the bulls, has another theory.
“We think that this crime is being perpetuated by some sort of a cult,” Mr Marshall said.
Residents speculate there could be UFO involvement.
One person suggested that Sheriff Jenkins look for craters underneath the carcasses, saying it would be evidence that the bulls had been levitated into a spaceship, mutilated, and then dropped back to the ground.
Similar incidents in the past have also garnered UFO theories.
The case recalls mutilations of livestock across the US West and Midwest in the 1970s that struck fear in rural areas.
Thousands of cattle and other livestock ranging from Minnesota to New Mexico were found dead with their reproductive organs and sometimes part of their faces removed.
Ranchers began carrying guns. People said helicopters had been heard around the kill sites. A federal agency cancelled an inventory by helicopter of its lands in Colorado, worried that it would get shot down.
A couple of US senators urged the FBI to investigate, according to FBI documents. After saying it lacked jurisdiction, the FBI agreed to investigate cases on tribal lands. But the mutilations stopped.
Former FBI agent Kenneth Rommel, who headed the investigation, said there was no indication that anything other than common predators were responsible.
Dave Bohnert, director of Oregon State University’s Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Centre in Burns, said he believes people killed the most recent bulls because there is no indication they were felled by predators or had eaten poisonous plants.
However, the state of the carcasses could be attributable to nature, Mr Bohnert, who is not officially investigating the case, said.
If people killed the bulls, a motive could be to financially harm the ranch, he said, noting that breeding bulls cost thousands of dollars each, and the 100-plus calves each of them sire are collectively worth much more.
Mr Marshall doubts it was a malicious attack on the ranch, which employs 75 people, many from local communities. Silvies Valley Ranch covers 140,000 acres (57,000 hectares) of deeded and leased National Forest lands around a 1.6 kilometres above sea level.
In 2006, a wealthy veterinarian bought the ranch and made it a combination working ranch and an elite destination resort. It has four golf courses, a spa, shooting ranges, fishing and luxury cabins going for up to $1250 per night.
Mr Marshall suspects the bulls were killed to get the organs of the free-ranging bulls for some reason. The bull parts would be available cheaply or free at a slaughterhouse, but he believes some people are going to a lot of trouble to get these parts on the range.
There’s no sign that scavengers removed the organs of the bulls, and instead someone using a knife or scalpel probably did, Mr Marshall said.
“To lose a completely healthy animal would be an oddity,” Mr Marshall said.
“To lose five young, very healthy, in great shape, perfect bulls that are all basically the same age ... that is so outside the bounds of normal activity.”
Mr Marshall speculates the bulls were darted with a tranquilliser that knocked them out. While some people acted as lookouts, others bled the animals out by inserting a large-gauge needle into the tongue and into an artery, then removed the organs after the heart stopped beating, he surmised.
Sheriff Jenkins has a similar theory.
“Personally, I would lean more toward the occult, where people for whatever reason whether it’s a phase of the moon or whatever rituals they’re going to do with their beliefs are coming to different areas and doing that,” he said.
The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association is offering a $1400 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible. The ranch is offering $36,000.
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