according to one breeder, this dog- likely a Xoloitzcuintle or "Mexican hairless"- may have been "doctored" to appear more menacing.
In 2007, Associated Press ran a story on this frozen critter, which the Cuero, Texas woman who found it described as a “chupacabra,” a legendary goat-killer from south American folktale and mythology. According to media fallout, breeders on “Xolo” sites believed this to be a Mexican hairless dog, and some went so far as to speculate that because the breed is so rare in the U.S., this apparent roadkill may have been an unhealthy or undesirable animal, dumped at the side of the road by an unethical breeder. Subsequent DNA tests suggested that the animal was probably a diseased, mangy coyote
In another instance in 2008, a chupacabra was said to have been caught on tape- again in the Texas town of Cuero (see clip, below)
The author of not discount the possibility that the chupacabra does or did exist, but for now, we can only speculate that the little town of Cuero has either a high rate of dependency on drug and alcohol… or a high rate of gullibility.**
Cf. http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=chupacabra-strikes-texas-town-2008-08-13
