Although there was no pear tree involved, officers from the SFPD and Animal Care & Control were working a curious crime scene out at Lake Merced Tuesday morning. After receiving a call around 11 a.m. officers arrived to find what appeared to two dead birds killed as part of a ritual sacrifice, which ACC says they typically see around the city about 20 times per year.

KTVU's David Stevenson was on the scene yesterday morning near John Muir Drive and Lake Merced Boulevard, on the south corner of Lake Merced:


As Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Deb Campbell told the Examiner, the birds are Chukars, which is a type of partridge that one can buy locally at live game markets. What tipped them off to the possible ritual killing of the two birds was the two blankets — one red and one black that the birds were laid out on. The slaying of game birds or other livestock is apparently typical in Santería rituals. Unlike similar crime scenes, however, Campbell pointed out that these dead birds were not surrounded by candles or chalk symbols.

Back in 2011, a dead goat was found beheaded on Capp Street and neighborhood blogs were quick to pin the crime on either Santería or Satanists. Shortly after, however, SF Weekly debunked that theory, citing sources familiar with the African-based religion who claimed sacrificial beasts would never be left out in the gutter like that, since it would be disrespectful to the animal. Satanists, on the other hand, apparently don't like sacrificing animals as much as popular culture would have us believe.

[SFEx]