Politics & Government

County Says Ritual Sites Not Uncommon, May Be Linked to Santeria

Union County spokesperson Sebastian D'Elia spoke with Patch regarding Tuesday's findings.

Tuesday's near the former Hungarian Club off of Old Raritan Road in Clark may have surprised residents, but it's nothing the county hasn't seen before, Union County spokesperson Sebastian D'Elia told Patch.

"Occasionally, we find these kind of animal ritual things in our park systems," said D'Elia. "It’s certainly not a regular occurrence but it does happen from time to time. We have a large parks system and we do have residents who do this stuff, possibly Santeria, especially in the more urban areas of the county. To see this in Clark is a little unusual." 

Santeria is an African-Caribbean religion that does employ animal sacrifice as a form of devotion. There have been other incidents regarding animal sacrifice and Santeria in New Jersey, including in March when a Freehold man was charged with animal cruelty after the remains of several animals were found in his yard.

Find out what's happening in Clark-Garwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

D'Elia confirmed that the site in Clark did contain a deer skull, deer bones and a mouse skull. The Union County Parks Department removed the animal remains and stick structure on Tuesday afternoon. 

D'Elia also stated that the county does patrol the property and that there is a maintenance person who works almost daily in the area where this site was found. "This couldn't have been there very long," said D'Elia. "He would have seen it." 

Find out what's happening in Clark-Garwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here