Multiple bags of dead animals found near Athens apartment complex

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - Bags of dead animals were recently found in a wooded area near an apartment complex on Cedar Shoals Drive in Athens.

According to the Athens-Clarke Police Department, two residents called ACCPD after they found the bags.

Police discovered 18 trash bags and 5 paper bags containing the carcasses of domestic farm animals.

The two residents told police they smelled something around November 2021 but the smell went away for about a month.

The smell came back and a couple of days ago, a neighbor who was walking their dogs spotted a black trash bag with an animal’s leg sticking out. That’s when the two residents called police.

Bags were found in two locations. Police say there were 5 plastic trash bags with 1 to 3 carcasses each in the first location. They believe the bags were left there in late 2021 or early 2022. It appeared the bags contained chicken bones and bones belonging to some other type of mammal.

At the second location, they found 13 trash bags and 5 large paper bags. Most of the bags contained 3-5 adult chickens. They also found the carcasses of pigeons, goats and a small pig. Those animals had been decapitated.

Some of the detached heads were also in the bags or the area. One of the goat’s heads had a livestock tag attached to its ear. Animal Control collected most of the carcasses from the second area.

One resident told police they had noticed a suspicious dark-colored Lexus and an old pickup in their area.

This is an active investigation.

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