The dismembered remains of three farm animals whose deaths officials believe could have been “religious in nature” were found Wednesday morning on the campus of the University of Rochester in New York.
The Humane Society of Greater Rochester was called to remove the body parts of two goats and a chicken discovered dead and butchered on the university’s campus outside Eastman Dental, a clinical arm of the post-doctoral Eastman Institute for Oral Health, an institute spokeswoman told USA TODAY.
An initial investigation led officials to believe the animals’ death and dismemberment took place elsewhere, Institute Director Eli Eliav said in a Thursday message to employees provided to USA TODAY.
“This is an upsetting situation, especially for our patients and employees who were subjected to seeing it,” Eliav said in the message. “It’s important to note that this is an isolated incident and have no reason to believe it is linked to Eastman Dental in any way.”
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Animal killings may be ‘religious in nature’
Lollypop Farm, which is the humane society in Rochester charged with enforcing animal cruelty laws in the region, was called to help investigate the deaths.
Investigators reported recovering undisclosed items at the scene “that seemed to suggest that this could have been religious in nature,” Ashley Zeh, a spokeswoman for the humane society, told USA TODAY.
“We do not have any suspects at this…
