The Roosevelt County Sheriff's Department has been receiving reports of cattle carcasses being illegally dumped along county roads, the Portales News-Tribune reported.

Five dairy heifer calves were found along County Road 3 in just the past week, Sheriff Darren Hooker said.

And County Manager Charlene Hardin said there have been approximately 36 carcasses dumped along a 3-mile stretch of county road in the past three weeks, the News-Tribune reported.

A week ago one person was caught dumping 22 carcasses along a county road, and that person collected the carcasses and properly disposed of them, according to the sheriff.

"The carcasses have been reported by landowners traveling down the roads," Hooker said. "They are not on the property of the landowners but are along roads that they must travel."

There are proper ways of disposing of animal carcasses, but dumping by the side of a road isn't one, said Hooker, who said the county may end up posting a reward to catch those responsible, the News-Tribune said.

"Citizens' tax dollars could be spent on a lot better things than the disposal of dead livestock," County Manager Hardin said. "Instead of using the money to fix roads we are having to clean up the messes left on the side of the roads."

The Roosevelt County Commission at its regular meeting Tuesday voted to apply for a $10,000 grant from the New Mexico Environment Department to help pay the county's expenses in cleaning up illegal dumping, the News-Tribune reported. 

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