(CNN) What started as a celebratory evening on her wedding anniversary ended as one of the worst days of Sunnie Howell's life.

Howell kept pot-bellied pigs, three of them, as emotional support animals for people in her Kentucky community. They regularly visited individuals in hospitals and nursing homes.

When she went to give them some leftovers after dinner on June 6th, she discovered two of them were dead -- most likely beaten, she told WLKY, a CNN affiliate. One had a smashed eye socket and blood coming out of its ear. The other's face was bashed in and covered in blood.

"They've never fought," Howell told CNN. "If they ever did, they would be removed from the program, so I know in my heart they did not fight."

The third pig is unhurt but scared

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