By Tim Binnall
Authorities in a pair of New Zealand communities say, for the last three weeks, a mysterious miscreant has been dumping hundreds of pounds of meat in trash cans throughout the towns. The truly weird series of events reportedly began in late August when a troublesome individual disposed of a whopping 485 pounds of beef and lamb chops in various rubbish bins. found in two neighboring suburbs of the city of Christchurch. Exactly two weeks later, the ne'er-do-well struck again and dumped another 440 pounds and, one week later, they made another 'deposit' in the form of a jaw-dropping 550 pounds, bringing the grand total to nearly 1,500 pounds left in the trash cans of the two communities.
The sheer amount of dumped meat over the last month has understandably astounded local officials with one observing that "it's staggering," while another lamented that "it's quite out of hand." Making the matter all the more maddening is that the rotting beef and lamb chops emit a particularly foul smell which waylays residents attempting to use the public trash cans. "Any kids who went to put a wrapper in the bin would've had a nasty surprise," council member Andrei Moore mused to an Australian TV station. Alas, for now, authorities are positively flummoxed by the situation as they have no idea who is behind the spree as well as why they are leaving behind so much meat.
In light of the latest incident seeing a significant increase in the amount of dumped beef and lamb chops, the two communities are now sounding the alarm over the situation. "I'm not keen to turn this into a witch hunt, but there is a need to avoid this continuing," Moore declared, offering the ominous warning that "hot meat in public bins" during the forthcoming summer months "won't be pretty." At the very least, one hopes that the considerable attention afforded to the odd mystery will cause the culprit to put an end to their antics as authorities have suggested that, if they are caught, they will likely face some kind of prosecution for the mysterious meat-dumping spree.