The following is the full text version of the SENASA Press Release which attributes the mutilations of animals in Argentina in the last two or three months to a small rodent. The document has been translated by Alejandro Agostinelli and distributed by Scott Corrales of the Intitute of Hispanic Ufology.
The National Health and Agroalimentary Quality Service (SENASA) made known today the report entrusted to the Universidad Nacional del Centro (UNICEN) in Tandil, which concludes that the studies performed on dead and mutilated animals have established that the deaths were the result of natural causes and the injuries were provoked by predators, among them a rodent of the genus Oxymcterus known as the "hocicudo rojizo" (red muzzle) whose population has recently increased and whose nutritional habits have changed.
The report points out that the deaths of 20 animals studied, taken from livestock facilities in the Buenos Airean districts of Olavarría, Tandil, Tres Arroyos, Coronel Pringles, Coronel Dorrego and Balcarce are due to "natural causes and can be attributed to metabolic or infectious diseases which occur frequently this time of year," according to UNICEN's chancellor, Dr. Néstor Auza.
Auza participated in a press conference at SENASA's headquarters, headed by its president, Bernardo Cané, along with Alejandro Soraci, dean of the School of Veterinary Sciences of UNICEN, Ofelia Tapia, a toxicologist with the School of Veterinary Sciences of UNICEN, and Ernesto Odriozola, a technician with the Animal Production Department of INTA-Balcarce.
The conclusions reached by these studies dismiss the possibility of radiation, as well as narcotics, at the locations where the animals studied were found, according to technical reports from the schools of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), which also participated in the analyses.
The report points out that "it was ascertained through direct observation, and under a stereoscopic magnifying glass, that the lesions on the animals' hide and organs were produced by predators" such as rodents and foxes.
The absence of special elements in the incisions (heat- cauterization) was further shown by means of histological tests.
Field observations confirmed "the presence of rodents around the carcasses, inside the carcasses, and at the moment that animal tissue was ingested." Some of these rodents were trapped and subjected to laboratory testing, where they showed "a particularly voraciousness for the organs provided" in the experiment.
The characteristics of the rodents correspond to a species that is little developed in our environment, belonging to the genus Oxymcterus, but which has proliferated of late, as well as foxes, according to information recorded in previous studies by UNICEN's fauna and biology group.
The report concludes that "there can be no doubt that a series of environmental, management and production factors have been present and which have impacted the ecosystem in different ways, causing evident imbalances among species, as well as in their habits."
The observations made by technicians made it possible to see that the animals studied presented, in general terms, injuries that followed a common pattern: strong association between the presence of lesions and natural cavities such as mouths, ears, mammary glands, rectums, vulvae and in exceptional cases--if the animal had been dead for a longer period of time--the abdomen.
In order to secure additional information, newly-dead and unmutilated animals were placed at selected locations to study predator action, confirming that the lesions produced were exactly the same as those found on the rest of the animals studied and which had been found dead.
Cané noted that "at the start of the study, we did not discard the possibility of human involvement, but it has been proven that there was none because of the lack of narcotizing elements. It was also proven in recently slain animals that the incisions are not so precise as the are serrated, and the studies tell us that the animals died of natural causes and not due to provoked attacks," adding at the same time that "all public agencies concur in this assessment."
The official added that "the most recent dead and mutilated animal cases were involved with the greatest degree of rigor. This is definite proof. This is what was proven."
Moreover, Dr. Tapia noted that "the rodents' diet is normally based on worms and bugs, but there has evidently been a change in this habit due to the lack of insects and worms. We are thinking that there is a modification in the normal fauna populations of the "red muzzle", but the explanation as to why these rodents changed their dietary habits forms part of a much larger study."
The studies and analyses that contributed to the drafting of the final report were handled by an interdisciplinary team composed of researchers from various scientific and public specialty institutions at the national level, and received cooperation from professionals in the private sector.
The schools of Veterinary Medicine and Mathematics of UNICEN, the INTA-Balcarce, the schools of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Buenos Aires also participated in the studies. There was also an exchange of information with the schools of Veterinary Sciences of the Universities of Río Cuarto, Cordoba and General Pico, La Pampa
Buenos Aires, July 1, 2002.
Translation © 2002, Institute of Hispanic Ufology.
