Wednesday, police in southern Mexico reported discovering a dismembered human body after witnessing a dog with a human arm in its mouth trotting down the street. It was the third time in the previous month that dogs were spotted in Mexico carrying human body parts.
Wednesday morning, police in the southern state of Oaxaca responded to a report of a black dog carrying a human arm in its mouth.
Tras un reporte recibido al @Oaxaca 9 1 1 en el que informaron que en la Agencia de San Martín Mexicápam, localizaron una extremidad humana; efectivos de la @Policia GobOax refuerzan la presencia institucional y mantienen acciones de seguridad en la zona metropolitana. #Oaxaca pic.twitter.com/baXxwK3JtI
— Sría. Seg. Púb. Oax. (@SSP GobOax) November 16, 2022
State prosecutors later stated that the discovery led them to unearth additional body parts in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the state capital, Oaxaca city.
The victim’s identify and cause of death were not immediately known.
Residents of a community in the state’s north-central region witnessed a dog racing down the street with a human head in its mouth in late October. Police eventually succeeded in removing the dog’s head.
In one instance, the head and other body parts were discovered in an ATM in Monte Escobedo, Zacatecas, along with a message referencing a drug cartel. However, before the police could intervene, a stray dog stole the corpse’s head.
A video shared on social media showed the dog carrying the head by the neck as it trotted down a darkened street, presumably with the intention of transporting it to a safe location to devour it.
Local gangs supported by the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels have been engaged in a prolonged, brutal turf war in Zacatecas.
In early November, clandestine graves containing human remains were discovered in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, after neighbors reported seeing a dog with a human leg to volunteer searchers. State officials have not confirmed that.
As a form of intimidation against rivals or authorities, drug gangs in Mexico often leave letters among piles of dismembered human parts.
In June, the deaths of seven men were discovered in a popular tourist area, with warnings mentioning the Gulf Cartel, which operates primarily along the northern U.S. border.
In April, six severed heads were reportedly discovered on the roof of a car in Mexico alongside a note that read, “This will happen to everyone who causes trouble.”