Pig carcass dumping 'revolting behaviour'

The skin of a pig hanging over a guard rail on Brook Rd has been called "horrible". PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

The behaviour of whoever left the skin and trotters of a pig near a busy Northland road has been labelled as "revolting" by a council engineer.

A member of the public was on her way to work yesterdaymorning when she noticed the skin of a pig hanging over the guard rail at Whangarei's Brook Rd off Riverside Dr, and its trotters dumped on the ground.

"It wasn't there yesterday, it looked pretty fresh. It's not the most attractive thing to see when you're on your way to work," she said.

The trotters of the pig were dumped on the ground. PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

The disgust is shared by Whangarei District Council solid waste engineer Jo Floyd who said under the Public Places bylaw a person could be find $20,000 if prosecuted.

The bylaw states no person shall slaughter or skin an animal upon a public place; or fail to dispose of in a proper manner the carcass or any part of the carcass of an animal belonging to, or in the charge or keeping of that person.

"This is revolting behaviour on the part of the hunters or whoever did this," she said.

"This is a horrible thing to do because you're leaving something decaying and it is scary for other people to stumble across. There are responsible ways to get rid of offal."

Ms Floyd said responsible hunters would dig a hole on their land to bury the remains. She had notified Northland Waste about the carcass on Brook Rd and said they would be removed.

The dumping of animal remains is also something that has concerned locals further up the road in Onerahi.

Wendy Giffin posted photos to the Onerahi Community Facebook page of two pig carcasses which had been dumped under a flax bush in the Waikaraka picnic area in December.

One person commented "wish we could find them and dump it back on their front door", another called the offender "sick".

Ms Floyd said often there was no evidence leading to an offender and encouraged people to contact Whangarei District Council if they came across people dumping the carcass of an animal.

Ms Floyd said people should also call council if anyone found animal remains dumped in public places.