SUBJECT: CATTLE OWNERS ON ALERT AFTER MUTILATIONS            FILE: UFO3143




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                     From the Birmingham News 2 / 15 / `93
                     
                    CATTLE OWNERS ON ALERT AFTER MUTILATIONS
                               by Frank Silera
                              News staff writer
                              
  ALBERTVILLE -- Officials in northeast Alabama are urging cattle
owners to keep a close watch on their herds and to report suspicious
activity to police.
  The warning comes in the wake of a string of reports of ccattle
mutilations on Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain during the past
several months.
  Albertville Police Chief Randy Amos said none of the incidents has
been solved, and leads are scarce.
  Frank Wood, the Marshall County farm agent, said there have been
about a dozen mutilation cases in that county since the fall.
  "These have been large animals he said. "They had organs removed and
the blood drained."
  He said the incidents do not appear to involve killing animals for
food, since most of the edible parts were left behind.
  Wood said he is advising livestock owners not to confront anyone who
may be involved in the activity, but rather to call the sheriff or
local police.
  One of the cattle owners who has suffered a loss has been Albertville
Chief of Detectives Tommy Cole, who has been a leader of the probe.
  Albertville police say it remains a mystery why cattle are being
killed and parts removed, but speculation among the public runs from
UFOs to devil worshippers.
  In adjoining DeKalb County, Sheriff Harold Richards said some of the
unusual activity taking place there has quieted down. It involved not
only mutilated cattle, but also reports of UFOs.
  He said the reports of UFOs have subsided in recent days.
  But Marshall County officials said wild animals are not behind the
killing of cattle there.
  "Coyotes might kill a calf," Wood said "But these have involved large
animals, 700 to 800 pounds."
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