Bulgarian police hunt satanist who fed live animals to snakes

Sofia, Bulgaria - The man videotaped the painful deaths of household pets, before sending the tapes to friends he met online.

Evgeni Andreev, 30, is said to own a collection of 50 highly dangerous snakes including Boa constrictors, rattlesnakes and cobras.

Andreev, who is a computer animation specialist from Sofia, made videos of domestic pets, including dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs being fed to his snakes. He then sent the videos to friends and acquaintances he met through online dating websites.

The Bulgarian TV channel TV2 reported that Andreev would reply to adverts on pets for sale or needing homes. He would promise to take care of the animals and give them lots of love, usually telling people they were a present for his girlfriend. He often took the animals in pairs, telling their owners they would not be "lonely".

Andreev, is thought to have turned to Satanism after the death of his mother around 10 years ago from a severe form of cancer. He had posted on forums " If Jesus exists, why did he let my mother go through this kind of torture, she was praying so hard and got nothing ".

On another forum he said his favourite films include 'Hellraiser' and 'Silence of the lambs'.