Decapitated Goat Found in Street in Hyde Park

A child was walking to school Monday morning when she found a decapitated goat in Boston's Hyde Park neighborhood.

Matty Del Valle's daughter made the gruesome discovery.

"She noticed a dead goat," said Del Valle. "She said that the head was gone, the insides were in a plastic bag next to it, and all of the legs were cut off."

The decapitated and dismembered goat was in the middle of Pierce Street.

"I ran down just to see a little bit," said Del Valle. "I didn't want to see too much and to make sure that she was fine, because she was crying."

Surveillance video shows the animal on the road. The Department of Public Works was called to remove the body parts and clean up the mess, including the plastic bag with the goat's insides.

"I think everybody has different beliefs," said Caren Waldholz, who lives on Pierce Street. "I think that it's a ritual, it's a bad ritual."

This isn't the first time this has happened in Hyde Park. Last year, about a mile and a half away, the head of a goat was found on top of a woman's car. A photo of the woman was under the windshield wiper.

"People are just nuts to do cruel things to animals," said Diane Hendershott, who lives on Pierce Street.

Residents are wondering where the goat found Monday morning came from, who killed it, and why was it left in the middle of their neighborhood.

"I hope they get caught," said Waldholz. "I know there are people that eat goat, but there's a way to go about it, this wasn't it."

Police say the incident that happened last year ended up being a domestic case involving the victim and someone she knew.

They do not think Monday's incident has any connection.