Neighbors in SW Miami-Dade fed up with carcasses in public spaces
MIAMI - A ring of beheaded chicken carcasses was found in a Southwest Miami-Dade intersection.
The neighbors are fed up with what they believe are people practicing Santeria and not disposing of the bodies properly.
The carcasses are on the corner of SW 80th Avenue and 30th Street.
"I was driving down my block and saw five chickens in the shape of a star," one homeowner said. "There seems to be some type of item in the middle, which I am not willing to go near, but it's something different. Something I've never witnessed in my time here in South Florida."
The homeowner lives right near the intersection and is afraid those practicing the animal sacrifices would retaliate, so she did not want to show her face.
"Don't necessarily know too much about the religion," she said, " I do know, however, that the majority of the time that we have come across chickens, it is in an intersection, a four-way intersection."
Miami-Dade Police said that there are hot spots where animal carcasses are found, like train tracks, four-way intersections, and near the water. A spokesperson told me Macarthur Causeway is a popular destination for disposing of sacrifices.
"Call the County this morning in the hopes of helping the neighbor where the five chickens are located is an elderly man, and I found it to be inconsiderate that someone as such would have to pick up these carcasses," she said. "The County is only going to pick up these animals if they're located in the public right of way."
While animal sacrifice done in a humane way is protected by law, it's illegal to dump carcasses in public places. According to Florida statute, a person should dispose of an animal carcass by burning or burying it at least two feet below ground.
"We see it so often with just the one chicken that the five was what compelled me to even post about it, but I definitely think that five chickens being decapitated that way is something considered cruel."
This homeowner wants whoever is responsible to stop leaving the carcasses in public spaces, where oftentimes, one of the neighbors ends up cleaning it up.