Police Probes Mysterious Mutilation of Animals in UK Public Park

U.K. Police appeals to the public for information about the recent event in a public park, where a number of animals were found mutilated.

Decapitated rabbits and speared fish were discovered in Donisthorpe Woodland Park, floating in a river and pinned to stakes, all left for the public to see at the popular beauty spot in Leicestershire, central England, NewsWeek reported.

Local police have launched an appeal for witnesses and are currently investigating the mutilations, according to BBC News channel.

A post on the North West Leicestershire Police Facebook page said: "It has been reported that over a period of weeks, several decapitated rabbits have been located floating in the water at Donisthorpe Woodland Park and further to this, deceased fish on spears have also been found in open public view. Have you seen or heard anything? If you do have any information, please call 101 and ask to speak with PC 237 Holmes."

"Vile Humans"

A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has expressed the charity's distress about the dreadful discoveries which the local North West Leicestershire police are looking into. ""While these specific incidents have not been reported to us, the RSPCA sadly does experience a considerable spike in the number of reports of cruelty during the summer months," she added.

While it was not made clear if any laws were violated with the recent incident, the British law protects its wild mammals from deliberate acts of cruelty.

One commenter on social media wrote: "Vile humans" after seeing the Facebook post. Meanwhile, a Leicestershire Police spokesperson told NewsWeek that the officer who issued the post said a member of the public reported the incident, but didn't do so immediately.

"They couldn't say over what timeframe it'd been happening other than within recent weeks. They also couldn't say how many animals had been killed," he said, adding that there has been previous reports of fish being poached in the area.

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An Unfortunate Occurrence

The occurrence of animal cruelty where killers intentionally harm or kill animals in the form of mutilation and left in public places is unfortunately a "fairly frequent occurrence", not just in the U.K. but other parts of the world.

Last month, bags of farm animal carcasses were found near an apartment complex in Georgia by a neighborhood resident walking their dog nearby, Ledger-Enquirer reported. In 2019, bulls were discovered dead and completely drained of blood with their organs out on an Oregon ranch.

In 2015, decapitated chickens, goats, rabbits, and more were left at sites across Sacramento, California, found inside boxes or bags which suggests that it had been put there on purpose.

"The behavior that is being displayed now is concerning because it's often behavior you see displayed in serial killers, serial rapists," said clinical psychologist Andrew Mendonsa in reference to the 2015 events, saying the killings are about power, control, and having ultimate control over a victim.

Serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, British child murderer Mary Bell, the Columbine shooters, and several others were found to have intentionally harmed and killed animals during their adolescent years. A 2002 study of criminal defendants even shows that animal cruelty during childhood was significantly associated with having antisocial personality disorder, antisocial personality traits, and substance abuse.

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