Queenstown Lakes District Council communications manager Michele Poole said during their routine clean the custodians discovered the carcass of an animal, believed to be a goat, ''left in the vicinity'' of the William Rees statue at the bottom of The Mall.
It appeared the carcass had been dragged through several CBD streets, including Duke St and Rees St.
Queenstown police were advised of the incident yesterday, but Senior Sergeant Paula Enoka said CCTV cameras had not filmed the offender/s.
While Snr Sgt Enoka described the incident as ''terrible'' and ''gross'', unless there was evidence the animal had been tortured, it was deemed as depositing litter - something which was not seen as a criminal offence.
''I think it's terrible and I don't know why anyone would do something like that ... they may have hunted the goat legally, but the mistake they've made is to leave rubbish ... if you think of it as rubbish.''
The council's regulatory manager, Lee Webster, said if the offender/s were identified they could be fined up to $400 under the Litter Act 1979.
Anyone with information could contact either Queenstown Police on (03) 441-1600, or the council on (03) 441-0499.
