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Full -screens reindeer were found with the throat cut – now a man is suspected of animal cruelty. File image. Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi/TT
One person has been served on suspicion of gross animal cruelty and damage after three reindeer were found with the throats cut. The suspect is a man in his 20s who denies crime.
No motive has yet been found for the deed. In the preliminary investigation, film material has been examined where vehicles and reindeer are visible that are damaged.
“We have seized a passenger car and it will be investigated by forensic technicians,” said assistant prosecutor Anna Nilsson in a press release.
Earlier in February, three reindeer were found that had the throats cut – one must also have had bullet holes in the body. The bodies were discovered along a forest car road outside central Umeå, not far from one of the sections of the World Cup rally Rally Sweden that began the same week.
Several of the nearby Sami villages have been critical of the permits for some of the routes, which they believe are unsuitable given that the Sami have their reindeer on winter grazing nearby, according to SVT Västerbotten.