I Don't Practice Santeria

By Matt Wood in Miscellaneous on Oct 25, 2006 3:30PM

The Sun-Times News Wire is reporting, via CBS 2, that animal cruelty charges may be pending after a goat's skull was found in a building at 2901 N. Milwaukee Ave. A police lieutenant quoted in the article hinted that the goat could have been sacrificed in a Santeria ritual (the religion, not the song). Details are still sketchy, but no Cubs fans were seen leaving the premises.

Chicagoist hasn't been able to find city-specific laws on animal sacrifice, and the state law doesn't mention it either. However, according to a 1993 Supreme Court case, as long as a law against animal sacrifice doesn't specifically target a religion like Santeria, it is constitutional, so we would imagine that if this goat were indeed sacrificed there could be some fallout. Of course, we've made a lot of assumptions here too. The skull could have come from a butcher shop. People do eat goats, you know.