A disturbing discovery -- mutilated dead farm animals have been left for days near a school bus stop in South Fulton.
Some residents there say they are not only fed up with the dead animals being left in the street for days, but they also want to know who is behind it, and so does the city.
Neighbors say one dead goat has been there for over a week, and they have not been able to get any department to come to remove it.
To make matters worse, the mutilated animal carcass is located about 20 feet from a school bus stop where kids are being dropped off and picked up twice a day.
"We started noticing baby farm animals in the middle of the road with their heads severed," said Sophia Veerkamp. "It didn't look like roadkill, so I said something is not right."
Veerkamp said she immediately called South Fulton Animal Control and Fulton County Animal Services.
"A couple of days later, we'd noticed a different animal -- like a chicken with its head cut off, about two, three feet from its body and that went on and on for about two weeks and then we started noticing baby goats," Veerkamp said.
There was no blood on the street, which led residents to believe the animals had been dumped there.
Veerkamp said eventually the animals disappeared, but last week, the body of a mutilated baby goat was left there -- it's hind legs bound by tape.
An older boy used a shovel to move it to a grassy area where neighbors said it has remained for more than a week.
"The boy was in tears and sick to his stomach, throwing up -- it was really sad," said Veerkamp. "It's not like roadkill -- it's a farm animal; it's a baby goat."
She said her calls to city and county officials have gone unanswered.
"I called animal control again, and they dispatched me to 911 again," she said. "They said that they were going to send a squad car out to look and I never heard back from them."
So, 11Alive started making calls.
Veerkamp said that in addition to the trauma the mutilated dead animals are causing the students, there is also a health concern, as you can smell the dead animal when the winds pick up.
"It could attract coyotes. We live in a forest area here and it could attract foxes or coyotes or bigger animals that can be a danger to the young kids standing over here waiting on the bus," she said.
We talked to several departments within the city of South Fulton, including the city's Code Enforcement and Public Works departments. Both departments say they are working to get the body of the mutilated animal removed.
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