A four-day-old foal has been slashed across the neck at a farm in Fife.

Police and the Scottish SPCA said the black and white mare is lucky to be alive after the incident near Cupar. Authorities believe last week's attack was deliberate.

Fife Constabulary have launched an inquiry and are considering whether the attack may have been carried out by individuals dabbling in the occult ahead of the summer solstice on June 21 - a key date in the occult calendar.

A police spokesman said: "We certainly will not be discounting the line of enquiry that it is related to satanists.

"It is one isolated incident at the moment and we can't immediately tie it to anything specific."

Last June four black bay mares on farms around Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, were found with their hindquarters and genitals slashed. One had to be destroyed by its owners.

Police are appealing for information from the public following this recent incident, which is reported to have taken place at a farm west of Cupar, between 5pm and 8pm on May 25.