History of Cattle Mutilation + Conspiracy Theories in Colorado

If you're a fan of South Park, especially the earlier seasons, you probably know the connection between that particular area of Colorado and things like UFOs and cattle mutilation.

This connection is based on actual Colorado history.

Colorado's History of Cattle Mutilation: Snippy the Horse

The first highly publicized case of cattle mutilation in Colorado was the gruesome and unfortunate death of Snippy the Horse.

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A three-year-old horse named Lady, later misnamed as Snippy, was found by its owners, Agnes and Harry King, in Alamosa, Colorado, on September 9, 1967, in a horrifying state.

The horse had been found missing all of its blood and was brutally disfigured by what appeared to be surgeon-like precision.

Cattle Mutilation in Colorado Makes Headlines in 1975

A few years after the story of Snippy the Horse broke, multiple other accounts of cattle mutilation made headlines in Colorado and beyond. These reports claimed that as many as 8,000 cases of cattle mutilation had occurred in the state alone, prompting vigilante ranchers to patrol fields at night.

Colorado Cattle Mutilation Theories

These unexplained stories brought numerous conspiracy theories to the forefront, blaming things like extraterrestrials and UFOs, satanic cults, and even a "Hell-oriented biker gang."

Read More: Colorado’s Snippy the Horse: The Grim Origin of Cattle Mutilation |

However, the most impactful conspiracy theory blamed the United States Government and secret weapons testing. In fact, one of the proponents of this theory, a journalist by the name of Dean Edwards, purportedly went missing after speaking out on it, only to return under a new name decades later.