A Letter to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)

In January, 2016 I  sent this letter (below) to the American Veterinary Medical Association, to the Montana Veterinary Medical Association, and to the Kansas Veterinary Medical Association. I have not received any replies to this letter from any of these professional organizations.

Why are veterinarians continuing to ignore the incredible and ongoing enigma that has come to be referred to as “cattle mutilations”?

Dear American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA):

I am Richard O’Connor, M.D. and I have sent the following letter to the Montana Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)  as well as to the Kansas Veterinary Medical Association (KVMA).  All points I make in this letter apply to all three organizations.

I have worked as an American Board of Anesthesiology certified anesthesiologist for 30 years. I have participated in many thousands of surgical procedures over that 30 year period on an almost daily basis and, as a result of these experiences, I feel that I know what the result of a surgical procedure looks like. I state here, without equivocation or hesitation, that the ongoing phenomenon popularly known as “cattle mutilations” are, in fact, surgical procedures being performed on these unfortunate animals. By whom or for what purpose I have no definitive answers, but there is no question that these procedures display the “earmarks” (pun intended) of skilled surgical procedures. The sharp precision of the hide incisions, now well-documented in many detailed photographs, the highly unusual serrated appearance of incised wound borders, the attention to fascial planes, and, most importantly, the stereotypical repetition of these same, nearly bloodless dissections focused on the eye, ear, upper and lower mandible, tongue, rectum, and genitalia are all unmistakable characteristics of precise surgical procedures being perpetrated over and over again. I encourage you to go to the website http://earthfiles.com to view good quality photographs that have once again documented this phenomenon (twice), most recently in the state of Kansas. ( Now in March, 2016, more new cases have taken place in AZ). Montana ranchers have experienced their share of these incidents as well.

I have maintained a persistent interest in this phenomenon and therefore I do periodically check for new cattle mutilation reports posted at journalist Linda Moulton Howe’s excellent website, Earthfiles.com. As you may know, Linda Moulton Howe has become our nation’s go-to expert for ranchers who have suddenly encountered and want to report a mutilated animal discovered within their herd. According to Ms. Howe’s most recent report, this has happened twice quite recently (over the past month) in the state of Kansas, as well as recent reports from the country of Argentina. Perhaps you may also be aware that many thousands of these cases have been reported and continue to occur throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, the UK, and elsewhere over the last 5 decades.

I called AVMA yesterday and spoke with a woman, asking her whether or not AVMA has any official policy regarding cattle mutilations, or has issued any official statements concerning this ongoing phenomenon. I was informed by her that AVMA continues to regard these events as being solely the result of animal predation or natural death, followed by animal scavenging. She reported to me that the FBI had once investigated cattle mutilations and had apparently come to this (wrong) conclusion years ago, and that the FBI’s assessment has been accepted and parroted by AVMA since the time of that investigation.

I could understand why, had these incidents of cattle mutilation ceased years ago, that AVMA might choose to simply ignore this phenomenon and sweep it under the rug – apparently still AVMA’s present-day policy. However, given that these incidents have sporadically but relatively frequently continued to occur through the present day, I cannot understand why AVMA (MVMA, and KVMA) does not give due attention to this very enigmatic phenomenon that has been quite costly to some U.S. ranchers. I feel certain that local veterinarians, when called upon to evaluate these incidents in the field, and if they are honest, will always find themselves at a complete loss to explain what they are looking at, using any conventional line of reasoning.

Therefore, my question to AVMA (and MVMA, and KVMA) is, why are these professional organizations continuing to ignore this phenomenon, while also continuing to explain it away as if there is nothing truly remarkable going on here? There is something very remarkable going on here, indeed something incredibly mysterious, and by now the only thing we can be reasonably certain of is that these stereotypical murders of cattle, horses, and other large (and physically powerful) animals are not going to stop happening.

I realize that it is not within AVMA’s (or MVMA’s, or KVMA’s) purview to act as forensic crime investigators, but it is well within AVMA’s (and MVMA’s. and KVMA’s) list of responsibilities to alert veterinarians to the reality of this ongoing phenomenon, to help in educating them about what is known about this phenomenon, and to suggest means by which meaningful data might be gathered that will expedite getting to the bottom of this enigma. To that end I would like to offer the following suggestions:

1. Inform AVMA (and MVMA, and KVMA) members that the ongoing cattle mutilation phenomenon is real and that it remains unexplained.
2. Set up a taskforce with access (subscription) to Linda Moulton Howe’s website Earthfiles.com’s archives to review all data she has gathered over the many years she has been personally investigating this phenomenon, and submit a comprehensive report on this to AVMA (MVMA, KVMA).
   1. Members can then suggest, from the knowledge base of veterinarians, how to better approach the study of this phenomenon and formulate a formal study protocol.
3. Invite Linda Moulton Howe to present her information at an AVMA (KVMA, MVMA) conference. I guarantee that her presentation will be well attended and very interesting. I have heard Linda speak about this subject at other venues and will attest to the fact that she is a capable and accomplished public speaker and very knowledgeable about this subject. Much more knowledgeable, in fact, than most veterinarians.
4. Upon gross inspection, these stereotypical events are easily recognizable for what they are. From my own reading about this subject I would suggest that AVMA (and MVMA, and KVMA) advise member veterinarians about the importance of documenting the following, if possible, when called upon to assess one of these immediately recognizable events in the field.
   1. The presence (or absence) of detectable blood and/or tissue levels of drugs commonly used in veterinary anesthesia.
      1. In one recent case in Kansas such drugs (I believe) were tested for, but were not detected.
         1. If such drugs cannot be detected, then we are dealing with an agency capable of completely subduing large and powerful animals through a means completely unknown to us. This conclusion would warrant further intense investigation to determine who, how, and why.
   2. The presence of hypodermic needle injection sites found anywhere on the animal.
   3. Evidence of either blunt or sharp trauma (especially bullet wounds) to explain the animal’s proximate cause of death.
      1. Many previous cases have not revealed wounds from sharp trauma, blunt trauma, or bullet wounds.
   4. Evidence of leg, rib, spine, and/or pelvic fractures.
   5. Evidence that the animal may have been dropped from above ground level.
   6. Obtain good quality photographs of surgically dissected tissues.
      1. Especially, close-up photographs of incised wound borders.
   7. Measure lengths of observed hide incisions.
   8. If eyeball missing, document presence or absence of blood pooling in orbital space.
      1. See the recent Kansas report at http://www.earthfiles.com
   9. Open the animal’s thoracic and abdominal cavities to inspect for missing organs.
      1. Previously documented cases of large organs removed through laparoscopic-sized incisions.
   10. Document the presence or absence of blood on the ground and surrounding area.
   11. Inspect the immediate area for signs of struggle, human footprints, and/ or tire tracks.
   12. Obtain sample hide margins surrounding hide incisions for detailed microscopic inspection and photographic documentation.

In summary, Linda Moulton Howe has, through great personal effort, provided very convincing evidence collected over what has become decades that clearly demonstrates cattle mutilations to be a very real and ongoing phenomenon, and one not possibly attributable to natural deaths or to animal predation. This phenomenon remains entirely unaddressed by those who should have a vested interest in coming to a full understanding of why these events are happening, who is carrying them out, how they are being carried out, and how they might be stopped. Ranchers are being financially impacted by these events, and some official organization needs to step up, proclaim that this is real, and take the lead on this. AVMA (MVMA, and/or KVMA) could and should play important roles in alerting veterinarians to this reality and to the importance of approaching these field investigations from a new and better-informed perspective. Veterinarians are the individuals best positioned to obtain the kind of high quality, on-site evidence that will be required if any further progress is to be made in getting to the bottom of this. If you have any questions about this, I suggest that you contact Linda Moulton Howe at her email address: earthfiles@earthfiles.com.

Sincerely,

Richard K. O’Connor, M.D.,

American Board of Anesthesiology Certified Anesthesiologist