On November 17 at 9:30 a.m. Henry Guillen, New Mexico livestock inspector, advised me that a cattle mutilation had been reported to him that morning at El Rito.
I conducted an on-the-scene investigation that day. The animal was a three-year-old female bovine, which weighed approximately 1,000 pounds. It had been found dead the previous afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The animal was lying on its left side. The only damage I observed was a hole, approximately five inches in diameter, in the anus area. The rest of the animal was intact, including the udder. Blood had drained from both the anus area and the mouth to the lower part of the carcass.
Inspector Henry Guillen examined the animal and said it showed signs of blackleg. He then cut its leg to show the owner the bubbles characteristic of blackleg. The owner said he had not vaccinated his cattle against that disease this year.
There was bird defecation on the carcass. Also, on the ground nearby was a ham bone, which the animal's owner identified as one he had recently given his German Shepherd dog. The owner also said there are numerous coyotes in the area, which can be heard every night. Of interest is the fact that the udder had not been touched. The animal was not lactating and according to New Mexico Game Department records, the vultures had recently departed the area for the winter. Whether or not this is significant is not known.
The carcass was revisited on two more occasions, and severe additional damage was noted to the carcass each time.
Figure No. 45 which was taken at a distance of six to eight feet, shows the damage to the anus area. Noticeable blood stains near the anus area are visible where body fluids have drained.
Figure No. 46 is a close-up of the same area and clearly depicts the jaggedness of the wound, particularly at the 12 o'clock position and along the entire lower left side.
Figure No. 47 which is especially revealing, shows the same damage after the animal was rolled over. Canine mouth marks are clearly visible along the entire upper right edge of the cavity.
Figure No. 48 is very pertinent to this entire project. It illustrates a surgically precise cut, which was made with a surgeon's scalpel by Cattle Inspector Guillen when he was revealing the symptoms of blackleg to the owner. One should keep in mind the appearance of this incision when viewing photographs of damage reportedly done "with surgical precision."
In conclusion, the evidence uncovered in this incident is very revealing. The animal had obviously died of blackleg. The bird defecation on the carcass, the canine mouth marks along the upper right edge of the cavity, and the dog's ham bone laying nearby provide a clear indication of how and by whom the carcass was damaged.
The photographs are also of interest. When viewed from a distance of six to eight feet (Figure No. 45), the damage to the anus area could almost be described as a perfect circle. However, when this same area is photographed, with magnification, at a closer proximity (Figure No. 46), jagged and torn edges can readily be observed. When the carcass is rolled over and the same area photographed again (Figure No. 47), mouth prints are visible, which indicate that the family dog was doing more at the carcass than merely dropping its ham bone. The dissimilarity between these cuts and the one made by Inspector Guillen with a scalpel are clearly evident in Figure No. 48. A close-up examination reveals a world of difference between this smooth, precise, uninterrupted incision and the type of "cut" revealed in the close-up photographs of the damaged anus.