Benjamin Radford writes an interesting post over at LiveScience about the so-called “Chupacabras Slayings” going on in Mexico. Like many of the media outlets from the Americas, this Mexican report is full of inconsistencies and embellishments that are crafted for the purpose of selling news.

Radford examines the reports and photographic evidence, concluding that what we are seeing (or reading) here is just feral canines in action. Which makes a heck of a lot of sense if you think about it. These supposed Chupacabras attacks have been occurring for more than a decade now. The only thing that is consistent is the evidence that is neglected. The evidence that points to known canines.

Full source: LiveScience

Over the past two months, shepherds and ranchers in rural Mexico have become increasingly concerned that the Hispanic vampire beast el chupacabra might be stalking their livestock.

The chupacabra (the word means “goat sucker” in Spanish) is the world’s third best-known monster after Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, and first appeared in 1995 Puerto Rico. It had a heyday of about five years, when it was widely reported in Mexico, Chile, Nicaragua, Spain, Argentina, Brazil and Florida, among other places, though sightings have decreased since then.

According to some, the monster has returned.

Reporter Pedro Morales, in an article appearing at Argonmexico.com (translated by chupacabra researcher Scott Corrales) notes, “Shepherds… in Puebla State are frightened by the attacks on their flocks by either the chupacabras, wild dogs or some other wild creature that they’ve been unable to hunt down, and which has caused the deaths of over 300 goats for some 50 days now.”

It’s not clear from the news stories why, exactly, the presumably mythical chupacabras are suspected. Several shepherds reported seeing dogs fleeing from the livestock attacks. According to one rancher who claims to have had 62 of his goats killed, “They were killed at night, because I arrived in the morning and they were all scattered, with bite marks, and 10 goats had head injuries. It looks like dogs were involved, but not normal ones. Perhaps wild ones or something.”

Many of the most sensational and “mysterious” aspects of the attacks are simply unproven or self-evidently false. For example, according to one news report, “over 36 animals had been beheaded in a strange way and without a single drop of blood in evidence.”

Yet a close look at photographs of the carnage clearly shows that both claims are wrong. The animals were not “beheaded,” but were instead attacked at the neck, a classic sign of a dog or coyote attack. Furthermore, the ground upon which the animals died is clearly soaked in a lot of blood — exactly the opposite of being “without a single drop of blood in evidence.”

Image: ArgonMexico.com

A search by local authorities searched in vain for the chupacabra, finding instead — you guessed it — some feral canines. The dogs were shot and killed, then eviscerated to see if their stomachs contained meat or blood from the slain livestock (which of course they didn’t, since the dogs did not eat the goats nor drink their blood). All the evidence points to dog attacks, but of course journalists know that injecting the goat-sucking chupacabra into the story makes it much more interesting.

Although there exists credible witness accounts from people who claim to have see this gnarly creature, the fact that there is a ton of evidence to prove otherwise, makes it difficult to believe that such creature can and does exists.

I find myself believing that all this time, feral dogs are to blame for the majority of the dead livestock. I’ve read in some instances were people refute the idea of feral dogs being responsible for the killings, because the animals were killed in such an “intelligent” and “strategic” manner. That’s ridiculous. There are plenty of reports and evidence of dogs adapting to feral lifestyles even grouping together in urban settings for survival.

Check out this old link from EnglishRussia, in which scientists discovered that feral dogs in Russia have learned the complex subway system. These dogs know what trains to take and at what time, in order to get from one point of the city to the other. The packs take certain trains for feeding, certain trains for meeting up with other packs and certain trains for bringing them back to their “hood”.