FBI 'Animal Mutilation' Files (FOIA / FBI Vault).
documentedgovernment_studyAnimal Mutilation
Declassified FBI 'Animal Mutilation' collection (FBI Vault, 4 parts), mainly 1974-78 press clippings + correspondence, plus the 1978-80 jurisdictional investigation triggered by mutilations on New Mexico tribal lands. Documents the Bureau's reluctant entry and predation-leaning closure.
[DOCUMENTED] The FBI collected nationwide clippings through the 1970s but declined jurisdiction until ~1978, when Rio Arriba County, NM tribal-land cases (documented by officer Gabe Valdez) and Sen. Harrison Schmitt's pressure prompted action. DOJ gave the Albuquerque FBI (SAC Forrest S. Putman) authority over mutilations on Indian lands; a 1979 letter from AAG Philip B. Heymann to Director William Webster acknowledged years of awareness of ritual-style animal mutilation. [DOCUMENTED] FBI report: 69 cattle + 6 horse mutilations reported 1975-79 in NM (8 on Jicarilla Apache Reservation, 7 in Santa Clara Pueblo). [COMPETING-DOCUMENTED] On 15 Jan 1980 the Bureau closed the inquiry: 'none of the reported cases has involved what appear to be mutilations by other than common predators.' Files are public at vault.fbi.gov ('Animal Mutilation') and mirrored on The Black Vault.