Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
On March 27, 2002, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "authorities are investigating whether to charge a City Heights [CA] shop owner with
animal cruelty for keeping 48 animals...
some meant for religious sacrifice, in cardboard boxes and bags without food
or water... Meanwhile, the city's code compliance department decided yesterday not to
fine the owner of Botanica Chango, which sells religious paraphernalia, for
keeping animals on property not zoned for them...
Julian Villota, the owner of the shop... insisted he was not being cruel to the animals, which were to be used in ceremonies in a
centuries-old religion called Santeria... Villota said only two chickens were to be sacrificed. The other animals were
to be used in ceremonies and then released into the wild, or in the case of the
goats, a symbol of the gods in Santeria, sent to farms...
There are no city or state laws governing religious sacrifices of animals,
but there are laws prohibiting cruelty to animals, local authorities said... Nevertheless, legal experts said it is possible for a person prosecuted for
animal cruelty in religious ceremonies to argue his constitutional right to
practice his beliefs."