Are Satanists responsible for fatal horse mutilations?

RUMOURS of devil worship spread across southwest England and Wales today as the mutilation of two horses were linked with a day of satanic animal sacrifice.

Last Thursday, Barney the pony was found dead in his field in Ciffig, Carmarthenshire with his eyes gouged out, his stomach slit open, an ear cut off and his genitals removed.
 
Then on Sunday another pet horse, Erik, was knifed to death in Stithians, Cornwall, his right eye gouged out, teeth removed and testicles sliced off.
 
Today it emerged that the killings coincided with St Winebald Day, a day of "blood rituals, dismemberment, animal and human sacrifice" in the Satanic calendar.
 
According to the Daily Mail, police investigating the mutilations say they "cannot rule out" a link to Satanism. The newspaper also points out that the attacks took place during a full moon, traditionally linked with Satanic ritual.
 
Such a connection is not the first of its kind. A spate of attacks on horses in Derbyshire in 2003 was associated with devil worship by locals, police and media. One horse had eight litres of blood drained from its stomach while others had their tails removed and their manes plaited with barbed wire in intricate patterns.
 
In 2006, around 100 animals were found slaughtered on Dartmoor, Devon, with tongues, eyes and sexual organs removed and half-moon symbols carved into their flesh, according to the Evening Standard.
 
But were these ritual sacrifices to the devil or an already sick act made to look more sinister? According to Anton LaVey's The Satanic Bible, a Satanist would never sacrifice an animal, as they are considered to be sacred.

Today, a woman claiming to be a witch allegedly told The Sun, "A true witch would never harm a person or animal."
 
Whatever the case, the rumours have put the fear into some residents. As one local Cornwall community news website points out, the next big date in the Satanic calendar – 26 January – is the ‘Grand Climax', the "sex rituals and human sacrifice of woman and child". ·