by Joe Conger / KENS 5
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Posted on June 17, 2010 at 4:19 PM
Updated
Friday, Jun 18 at 8:40 AM
Birdie Zuniga has spent the last 6 years visiting and maintaining her father’s resting place in San Fernando Cemetery #2, only this time there was something else to clean up.
“I can’t believe it. How anyone can disrespect a place like this,” said Zuniga.
Visitors discovered a bag of dead chickens among the graves: three chickens, at least one of them believed to be a rooster. Mourners say they followed a strong smell and a trail of feathers, littered among the tombstones.
“We kind of got this smell. We started to wander around and saw chickens,” said Dan, who was visiting his mother-in-law’s grave.
KENS 5 cameras captured an image of a fresh carcass, cut in half, lying in the grass. Cemetery employees quickly cleaned up the remains. And San Fernando officials say this isn’t the first time they’ve encountered bags of poultry on their grounds. Despite 24-hour security, someone has managed to dump the bags after hours, officials said.
But those visiting the dead believe it may be more than littering. They wonder if these aren’t efforts to awaken the dead.
When asked, Dan said, “Voodoo? Maybe sick, twisted people?”
A quick check of the internet and stories emerge of graveyards nationwide that hold more than just the dearly departed. Law enforcement in Los Angeles discovered similar incidences, where plastic bags were filled with dead chickens, and left among the dead. Internet bloggers talk of dead chickens found in cemeteries from New Orleans to Key West. And, there are also links to Santeria rituals that involve using dead animals to communicate with the spirit world.
Zuniga just wants the people caught who are dumping the animals. She doesn’t want her father’s soul troubled by what may be going on above his resting place.
“It’s not right; they’re not in their rightful mind,” Zuniga said.
