The two latest victims were found in Seine-Maritime in Normandy, according to radio network France Bleu. They follow two other similar attacks in the same department earlier in June. Police in several departments as well as a special unit focusing on combating attacks against the environment and public health are investigating.

On June 6, a mare was found dead near Dieppe with her right ear cut cleanly off. Then, almost two weeks later in Grumesnil, a man found his 14-year-old donkey dead in its meadow, with an ear cut off and one of its eyes gouged out. The owner, Loïc Crampon, who breeds donkeys, filed a complaint to the police, France Bleu reported. 

“It’s a gratuitous act on a defenseless being, it’s inhuman to do that,” the radio network reported him as saying. 

Now, investigators have uncovered two further cases in Seine-Maritime, although the animals’ owners have not officially complained.

Several other incidents have taken place in France since February in Moselle, Vendée, the Aisne, and the Somme involving attacks on horses and donkeys. Each animal had an ear cut off. 

Mr Crampon told France Bleu that it could be the act of a sect or part of a satanic ritual but he thinks it more likely to be some sort of internet challenge.

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