Stalking the Herd: Unraveling the Cattle Mutilation Mystery - Christopher O'Brien, 2014.
Stalking the Herd is kind of the go-to encyclopedia of cattle mutilation cases. Before reading it I had a passing knowledge of the phenomena, and had seen Linda Moulton Howe's 1980 documentary on the subject, but that was about it.
After reading it all I can say is, yep, there is something seriously weird going on. Even if you discounted, say, 90% of cases as predation or other explained causes, that still leaves hundreds, if not thousands, of unexplained weirdness. The biggest question for me is WHY? Because whether it's the work of aliens, or satanists, or some shady conglomorate desperate to push small ranchers out of business, why do it in this way?
If the perpetrators are human, there are surely cheaper and easier ways to acheive their aims. If the perps are alien, well, much the same argument stands...
Whatever the truth, Wales does get a few mentions throughout the 1,000+ pages.
"The inexplicable wave of identical sheep slayings in western Wales began in May 1984, and by October upwards of 120 lambs had been reported mysteriously killed. Law enforcement officials were genuinely baffled, especially when in the mid-fall, the wave of unexplained deaths ceased as mysteriously as it had begun. There were few if any leads and investigators must have drawn a sigh of relief that it was over before the first of November. The relieved Welsh sheepherder community probably thought it was over as well. I am not aware of any additional UK reports from October 1984 to May 1985."
Then there's a casefrom the Sunday Express (5/12/1985):
"In the second week of May 1985, Welsh sheep farmer Major Norman Corbett discovered three of his snowy-white lambs dead—each from an apparent deep puncture wound “the size of a 10p piece” drilled into its side. There was no blood, and the puncture wound was the only evidence of trauma on the animals.
As the sun arose the following morning, 21 lambs on two nearby farms were discovered dead in the same condition as the Corbett sheep. All 21 had the same type of wound, and none were outwardly marked in any other way. The Sunday Express had covered the 1984 wave that bloomed on the Welsh coast, and the reporters were back to take stock of this latest deluge of springtime 1985 reports:
Major Corbett has seen it all before. Last year, he and other farmers in the area became used to finding dead lambs with identical wounds and severe internal injuries. Although police, vets and farmers mounted a major investigation, they could find no explanation for the mystery puncture-marks. Investigators considered many theories, but one by one, they ruled out attacks by crossbow, shotgun, and other animals, such as dogs.
The killings have also concentrated almost exclusively on one type of lamb, pure-white Welsh ewes. Brown and oil-white lambs, and male lambs, have almost always been ignored. And most of the attacks have been directed at only two farms, Major Corbett’s, and that of his neighbour Mr Richard Lewis at Tywyn, South Gwynedd. Major Corbett, who has more than 1,000 sheep, has lost 35 lambs, worth £l,000. Mr Lewis has lost more than 70. [my emphasis] Superintendent Elwyn Davies, of Dolgellau Police, South Gwynedd, said: “It is made worse because, in this area, sheep are peop1e’s livelihood."
Also, Tony Dodd reported there were continued Welsh cases in 1997:
"From Wales I have also received several reports of the dead bodies of sheep being found, with their thyroid glands cut out. In April 1997, 40 pigs mysteriously died in one night on a farm near the coast of England. Every one had a neat hole on the forehead, but there were no other obvious signs of injury. The vet who was called ordered their immediate burial, although the farmer was not told that he had an infectious disease problem. The animals were buried that same day."
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