Argentina: On-Site Report on Cattle Mutilations

Argentina: Five Cows Mutilated in Crucesita Tercera, Nogoyá
** An on-site report by VISION OVNI ***
A report by Silvia Pérez Simondini, Andrea Pérez Simondini and Nestor Gaioli

Crucesita Tercera in the department of Nogoyá is located some 50 kilometers from the provincial capital. Its habitual peace and quiet were disrupted by reports from a livestock owner involving the apparition of mutilated animals on his property and neighboring ones as well.
Another situation that added further mystery to the event was the total emptying of a nearby lagoon.
News of these events reached Diario UNO in the city of Paraná, which attracted the locals’ curiosity.

VISION OVNI traveled immediately to the area, contacting Juan Carlos Vergara, head of the cattle theft office. He very kindly gave us not only details of the case, but also put us in touch with veterinarian Pablo Seeling, who has great experience in these cases.
We know that only [mutilation cases] reported as of 2002 have been catalogued in our country, and the reported number is trebled by the reports that were not made known to the authorities. We quickly agreed with Dr. Seeling in this matter, confirming that he personally believes to have dealt with 50 such cases in Nogoyá, and that they were really in excess of 200.

The Cases

Police officers located the cows, which featured the same affected organs characteristic in these cases: absence of reproductive organs, ocular organs and tongue. The verdict rendered by veterinarians in these cases has always been the same – no explanation.

The anmals’ owner, retired bank officer Gustavo Cabañas, says that the field was under his care and that he had left behind a herd of cows and calves. A few days earlier, he had toured the entire field, finding that everything was in order and corect (we should remark that Cabañas visits the field every day from very early in the morning until mid-afternoon), incuding the water level of a lagoon, which contained a considerable amount of water, despite the predominant drought. When he found this body of water to be dry only hours later, the cattleman was shocked. This new state of affairs prompted him to relocate the livestock to another field, and it was in this process that he found the dead animals. He promptly contacted the cattle theft authorities and the sheriff of Crucesita Tercera. The sheriff was stunned to find that a new mutilation case had occured only a few meters away from his office. Vision Ovni carried out the initial research work in this case.

Mr. Firpo, the property’s owner, allowed us to enter the premises to see the animal for the first time. It was in the woods, and displayed partial injuries, such as the removal of the left eye, incisions to the anus and vulva, partial incisions to the tongue. We found curious that the charateristic incision of the jaw, with exposed bone, was not present.

Fly larvae were begining to develop in its mouth and flies were found on the wounds. No samples were taken, as the animal had been dead for more than 72 hours. A distended abdomen was also observed. Also curious was the absence of rigor mortis, with natural flexibility of the extremities.

As for the vegetation: a survey of the area did not turn up footsteps or broken branches in the vicinity nor up above. There was no evidence of carrion animal activity. The dead animal showed signs of a struggle, as evidence of kicking and an attempt to cause injury with its horns were detected. An issue of blood from its nose was also evident, suggesting that the animal died during the process of receiving the wounds. No signs of electric conductivity in the ground were noticed, a variable that has been present in toher cases.

The cattleman’s dog, who was coming into contact with the mutilated animal for the first time, refused to come any closer. The carcass was found in a north-to-south position.

This case in Crucesita Tercera makes clear that the phenomenon has not ceased occurring in Argenina, and that it is a source of great concern to livestock farmers and the authorities, as there is an abundance of hypotheses and a dearth of answers. It is perhaps time for the authorities to make experts and resources available to researchers in order to make headway in this subject. The experts exist, so do the resources. All that is needed is the will to implement them. Admitting that the subject is unknown is not a sign of weakness; rather, it is a way of reaching the truth.

(Translation (c) 2009, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Silvia Pérez Simondini and VISION OVNI)