APn 07/22 0637 Santeria-Animals By RICHARD DE ATLEY Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES

APn  07/22  0637  Santeria-Animals By RICHARD DE ATLEY Associated
Press Writer

   LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Animal torture and slayings attributed  to
devil  worshipers  and the Afro-Cuban Santeria religion appear to
be increasing, and authorities are researching the  tricky  legal
question of how to stop it.

   The  City Board of Animal Regulation, which has relied largely
on anecdotal  accounts  of  increased  ceremonial  mutilation  of
animals,  has  asked  for  a report on the matter, outgoing board
member Arthur Margolis said Thursday.

   "All I am aware of as an activist  is  that  there  have  been
animal  sacrifices  by  satanist  groups  and other groups," said
Margolis.  He said the study should supply documentation  of  the
problem.

   In suburban Hawthorne, authorities raided a home last week and
seized 22 chickens, two goats, a piglet and a lamb.  The officers
also   found  four  goatskins,  several  chicken  carcasses,  and
evidence of backyard animal slaughter.  The owner denied Santeria
practices.

   Reed said authorities last fall found six goats bound and kept
in the bathroom  of  a  Culver  City  home,  along  with  several
chickens.   Candles and other religious items suggested Santeria,
and the owners were charged with animal cruelty.

   Margolis,  an  attorney,  hopes  the  report  will   lead   to
consideration of a law banning animal deaths and tortures as part
of a  religious  ceremony.    He admitted a First Amendment fight
would immediately follow, as it already has in one city.

   Officials in Hialeah, Fla., a mostly Hispanic city near Miami,
passed three laws in 1987 aimed at the Santeria Church of  Lukumi
Babalu  Aye,  the  first  public  church  of  the  sect opened in
Florida.  Los Angeles has no such established church.

   The Hialeah laws  prohibit  sacrifice  of  animals,  including
goats,  pigs,  cows,  poultry,  cats  or dogs, animals which sect
members slaughter during so called "red magic" rituals that  seek
favors or advice from their gods.

   The  church  sued  the city in federal court alleging the laws
violated their constitutional guarantees of freedom of  religion.
The suit is pending.

   Charlene Drennon, West Coast director of the Humane Society of
the  United States, said she believes a model law drawn up by her
group would meet constitutional tests.

   "There have been several cases where  the  Supreme  Court  has
decided  how  far religious freedom can go," she said Thursday in
an interview from her Sacramento office.   She  cited  a  Supreme
Court ruling that said smoking marijuana could not be regarded as
a religious practice.

   Ms.   Drennon  said,  however,  that  education  was  a better
approach than law enforcement when dealing with a  clash  between
religious practices and animal welfare.

   "I  think  it  needs  a  very heavy duty emphasis on educating
people," she said.

   Santeria is a mix of Roman Catholicism,  voodoo,  and  African
rituals attributed  to  the  Yoruba tribe of Nigeria.  Some Roman
Catholic saints borrowed  by  Santeria  have  come  to  represent
African gods.

   The  followers are secretive about their practice, and in most
places do not have special  places  of  worship.    Efforts  were
unsuccessful  to  contact  Santeria  followers or priests, called
santeros, in Los Angeles or Hialeah.

   The establishment of the religion in Los  Angeles  is  largely
manifested  by  the  profusion  of "botanicas," stores which sell
supplies,  statues  and  pictures  used  in  Santeria  and  other
rituals.

   Sociologists   believe   there   may  be  as  many  as  50,000
practioners of  Santeria  in  the  Los  Angeles  Cuban  immigrant
community.

   Anthropologists   estimate  that  related,  similarly  derived
religions have 100 million followers in  Latin  America  and  the
United States.

   Reed said authorities last fall found six goats bound and kept
in  the  bathroom  of  a  Culver  City  home,  along with several
chickens.  Candles and other religious items suggested  Santeria,
and the owners were charged with animal cruelty.