A jogger who stumbled across a grisly pile of animal carcasses dumped in Dunedin says he suspects the find is linked to one at the weekend.
Warren Nisbet, of Dunedin, said he was out jogging when he came across "two or three" carcasses - which appeared to be the remains of calves - and other rubbish dumped near the gate to the disused Milburn Cement Works site at Burnside.
He first spotted the carcasses while jogging about three weeks ago, but did not report them to the Dunedin City Council, and noticed the remains were still there on Monday.
It was the second reported case of boned animal carcasses being dumped around Dunedin, after a pair of walkers came across the carcasses of three calves and one deer on Otago Peninsula on Saturday.
Mr Nisbet said the "well boned" animal remains he discovered appeared to be in the same condition as those on Otago Peninsula, and he suspected the dumps could be linked.
"I would say its someone perhaps stealing cattle ... slaughtering them at home and selling them off.
"It seems unusual. If you are doing it on the sly, then you are getting rid of the evidence on the sly.
"If you were doing it for friends, or had a farm with a few sheep on it, you would definitely get rid of it in a legitimate way."
Earlier this week, council roading maintenance engineer Peter Standring said illegal dumping was a regular occurrence, particularly during the hunting season, and stock rustling was also a problem.
Contractors were dispatched to clean up the remains whenever reports were received, and the council had issued 80 infringement notices for illegal dumping since June last year, he said.
Mr Nisbet, who is a business manager for McKeown Petroleum, said he was also a regular mountain biker, and often came across glass and other rubbish dumped on the roadside.
"I'm a tidy Kiwi. I go mountain biking with guys on Sunday and we never drop wrappers or anything. It annoys me that people like that chuck stuff on the side of the road.
"It disgusts me that someone is doing this, as it can be a health hazard to everyone."
