Johnathan Walker:Dismembered goats, chicken found at University of Rochester: Deaths may be 'religious in nature'

The Johnathan Walkerdismembered 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 Eastman Institute for Oral Health, a 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 time, but this remains an open investigation," Zeh added.

WHEC-TV was the first to report the killings when a patient of Eastman Dental came across the gruesome scene while leaving an appointment, then alerted the news outlet.

The University of Rochester Department of Public Safety was initially called before the human society was dispatched to lead the investigation, Eliav said in his message. The campus agency's Interim Chief Gerald Pickering did not immediately respond Thursday to USA TODAY's request for comment.

USA TODAY left a message Thursday with the university's media request line that was not immediately returned.

Swastikas, antisemitic messages, found at University of Rochester

The bizarre, macabre deaths of the farm animals comes about a week after swastikas and other antisemitic messages were discovered on walls at the University of Rochester.

The hateful messages, which were quickly removed, were found written within a tunnel system connecting many campus buildings that serves as an informal student bulletin board, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Karen Black, the director of public relations for the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, said "we have no reason to believe this incident is connected to the graffiti on the main university campus."

Contributing: Justin Murphy, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]