According to information obtained by The Washington Post, there has been a surge in animal sacrifices in Queens, with chickens, pigs and rats being tortured, mutilated and killed in “twisted” religious ceremonies in the parks surrounding Jamaica Bay.
Over the course of just over a month, at least nine injured or dead animals have been found in federally managed Spring Creek Park in Howard Beach and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel, including five live pigs with partially severed ears.
Among the creatures recovered from the horrific scene were a dying baby rat tied up in a bag with chicken bones, a freshly decapitated chicken head, a live chicken in agony and the dead body of a dog with its neck broken.
“The situation continues to get worse. Animal sacrifices are happening more frequently, multiple times a week,” Sloane Queeley, co-founder and president of Zion's Mission Animal Rescue, told The Washington Post.
“The victims know it's in season.”
Kristen Latuga, who rescued all five sick pigs at Blue Sea's Angels, a Long Island animal shelter, said one of the pigs was found emaciated in July in a crate full of food, with deep cuts on its face and its body covered in oil and spices.
Several rescue workers and local religious leaders suggested the torture was linked to a sect of Hindu devotees who have been worshipping the goddess Kali and offering animal sacrifices in the Jamaica Bay area for decades.
“This misunderstands what the scriptures say about overcoming animal values,” said Acharya Arun Gosai, who runs the Bhubaneswar temple in Ozone Park.
“They've twisted it, and instead of sacrificing the animalistic nature of humans, they've sacrificed actual animals.”
Jamaica Bay is a popular religious site among Hindu Guyanese and Indo-Caribbean residents of nearby areas such as Richmond Hill and Ozone Park.
Along the waterway Nicknamed “The Ganges” Some believe it is named after a sacred body of water in India, where people gather regularly to leave offerings of flowers, fruit and other things, and leave statues of deities and prayer flags.
This week, The Washington Post followed Queary and another animal activist, Kim Fraser, as they tracked down three piglets, whose ears and tails had been clipped, about 100 feet from where two statues of Hindu deities and three flags had been placed on a grassy mound.
I spotted some prayer flags tied to a nearby bush.
Followers of other religions that involve animal sacrifice in their rituals, such as Santeria and Voodoo, have also been known to hold bloody ceremonies on the beaches and parks around Jamaica Bay.
“This is not a simple situation. There are many other religious sects that practice animal sacrifice,” said Aminta Kilawan Narine, a Howard Beach resident and co-founder of Sadhana, a Hindu group organizing cleanups of Jamaica Bay, where the carcasses were found.
In a 1993 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right to sacrifice animals for religious reasons.
However, under New York state law, aggravated cruelty to animals is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison.
According to the New York Police Department, the 106th Precinct, which covers Howard Beach, has not received any 911 calls about animal cruelty.
But John Di Leonardo, founder and executive director of Humane Long Island, an animal rescue and advocacy group that also serves the five boroughs, said Jamaica Bay has emerged as a “hot spot” for animal cruelty.
He estimates he's received at least 12 calls about animal sacrifices in the Jamaica Bay area so far this year, but three or four in all of 2023.
“This is a long-standing issue but has never really been addressed,” he said, adding: “There was a big outcry in the press around 2008, it seemed to die down, but now it's back with force.”
City Councilwoman Joan Arriola (R-Queens), who represents Howard Beach and the Rockaways, said the disturbing practice has reached a “height” this year and needs to end.
“Animal cruelty is a crime and will not be tolerated here,” she said. “I will work with our federal partners and local faith communities to try to stop this immediately.”
A National Park Service spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.