Animal care authorities are looking for public volunteers to help investigate a surge in ritualistic killings on Long Island, authorities say.
The Suffolk County SPCA issued the plea Wednesday as it announced another grisly discovery. The head of the organization, Roy Gross, said a severely decomposed part of a large animal, possibly a tongue, was found bound to a tree in a wooded area Central Islip.
The remains were hanging about 6 feet off the ground, wrapped in a black shirt with black yarn that was screwed to the tree. The animal part was about 300 feet off the road; the west side of the property where it was found is surrounded by residential homes ,authorities said.
The east side is an abandoned commercial property.
Last week, three beheaded, partially plucked chickens were found in plastic bags on the railroad tracks near Hubbard Avenue in Riverhead. And in June, beheaded animals were found among fruits and vegetables in the Otis Pike Preserve in the town. Before that, the SPCA said they found several dead roosters hanging from trees at an intersection in Islip.
All of those cases had the hallmarks of ritualistic killing or sacrifice, officials said.
"Unjustifiably slaughtering an animal is a crime and this will not be tolerated," Gross said. "This has been happening too often and is not the kind of thing we want our children to find."
Local
The SPCA says it is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect. Anyone with information about the killings is asked to call the SPCA at 631-382-7722.
