The Satanic church in South Africa has distanced itself from the slaughter of cats in the Cape Town community of Manenberg.
The organisation is offering a R10 000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s).
At least 37 cats have been brutally killed in area over the last few weeks.
Post mortem results from Western Cape Government’s Veterinary Laboratory confirmed that humans are involved in the cat killings.
The results also revealed that some of the animals were beaten to death before they were sliced open with a sharp blade and disemboweled, while others had parts of their ribcages, hearts and lungs ripped out.
Due to the horrific nature of the killings, some had suggested that the killings could be part of a religious ritual.
The SA Satanic Church on Monday distanced itself from the killings, saying that it is shocked and appalled by the events in Manenberg.
The organisation’s Riaan Swiegelaar said that they did not condone the abuse of animals and none of their rituals require the slaughter of any living being.
“The general public still associates rituals involving animals with Satanism. This is mainly due to misconceptions spread through the Satanic Panic,” Swiegelaar said.