Thread: "Santeria Priest" to Stand Trial:Animal Cruelty

More "Joys of Diversity"!!!


Man accused of mutilating animals to stand trial

Prosecutor says the self-professed Santeria priest decapitated pigeons, chickens, roosters and a turtle for religious ceremonies.
By James Wagner
4:13 PM PDT, October 29, 2008

A man accused of mutilating animals for religious use was ordered to stand trial after nearly two years of being free, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said today.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Guthrie of the Torrance branch office said Rafael Giralt, 58, was held to answer a count of cruelty to animals.

Giralt -- a self-professed Santeria priest -- decapitated pigeons, baby chickens, roosters and a turtle, and dismembered and decapitated a baby goat for religious sacrifice in mid-January 2006, Guthrie said.

Giralt was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies on Oct. 14 on a warrant after he failed to appear for his original arraignment in May 2006, Guthrie said. He said officers of the Department of Animal Care responded to an anonymous complaint of a woman sprinkling blood around her house and on the sidewalk of Giralt's then-Lawndale residence.

Giralt is free on $20,000 bail and is scheduled for arraignment Nov. 12.

Wagner is a Times staff writer.

james.wagner@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/local

We should never allow immigrants into this country who's culture is not compatible with ours. It will be a recipe for disaster down the road.