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                                   presents
 
     
     MIAMI (AP) 8/1/89
     Keyed by Fetal Juice
     Toxic File #80
 
                    Church Challenges Animal Sacrifice Laws
     
          An afro-Cuban sect that slaughters chickens, turtles and
     sometimes goats as part of its ritual is challenging a town's ban on
     the practice, saying it violates religious freedom.
          A trial began last week in the federal lawsuit filed by Santeria
     priest Ernesto Pichardo and his Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye in
     suburban Hialeah, the first known church in the usually secretive
     sect.
          The dispute between the Santeria church and the town of Haileah
     raises questions of religious persecution and animal cruelty as it
     delves into the most unsetteling Santeria ritual - animal sacrifice.
          Experts on Santeria and its practitioners have said that human
     bones are not part of any Santeria ritual.  But chickens, pigeons,
     doves and turtles, and occasionally goats and pigs, are sacrificed for
     the initation of priests, in faith-healaing and for help in love,
     buisness and family affairs.
          Sometimes, the animal remains are cooked and eaten, but in some
     cases they are left by roadsides or in other public places.
          The trial in Pichardo's lawsuit began Monday (7/30/89) and will
     continue this week. U.S. District Judge Eugene Spellman is hearing the
     case without a jury.
          Officals in Hialeah, a predominatly Hispanic city on the edge of
     Miami, deny that their efforts to limit Santeria rituals amount to an
     attack on religion.  Instead, they cite such factors as the
     possibility of infection spread by animal carcasses, cruelty to
     animals, and the danger  that childern who witness the sacrifices will
     be psychologically scarred.
          In court documents, city attorneys noted that bans on snake
     handling and mairjuana smoking have been upheald even when the acts
     are considered an integral element of religion.
          Santeria, believed to have more then 50,000 followers in the
     Miami area, had its origins in the region of Africa that is now
     Nigeria.  It was carrid by slaves to Cuban sugar plantations, adopted
     many Roman Catholic saints as guardians and evolved into a folk
     religion that remains largely underground.  Most adherents are Cubans
     or Cuban-Americans.
          Pichardo, 34, says he is trying  to remove the stigma against the
     religion as a low-class practice and institutionalize its rituals,
     which previously have been performed largely in private homes.
          After he announced plans for his church in 1987, the city delayed
     its opening with extensive zoning and building code requirements.
          "Once we complied with everything they threw at us, then it
     became an animal sacrifice issue," said Pichardo
          The council voted  to outlaw sacrifices, allow animal slaughter
     only for human consumption, prohibit the possession of animals for
     slaughter or sacrifice, and incorporate the state animal crulty law in
     city ordinances.
                                                                           
  (c)opied from the goddamn NEWSPAPER!!  Fetal Juice/Toxic Shock  July 1990