A major investigation is underway after the discovery of hundreds of horses slaughtered on a property in Australia's New South Wales.
The estimated 500 carcasses were discovered near Wagga Wagga, after reports the horses had been butchered at the property.
Wagga Wagga City Council released a statement on Wednesday, confirming the property has been visited by officials and an investigation has been launched.
"Wagga Wagga City Council has led a joint government investigation into the slaughtering of hundreds of horses at a property near Wagga Wagga in NSW," the statement read.
"Council was supported by NSW Police in investigating reports that horses had been butchered at the property and their carcasses left in a dry creek bed."
The Council entered the property alongside members of NSW Police, the NSW Food Authority, Local Land Services, the Department of Primary Industries and Racing NSW.
"Initially, the focus of the investigation was to confirm whether the carcasses had been left in the dry creek bed and possible offences under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act," they said.
However, the inspection discovered the slaughtering of horses "had been occurring for a long period of time".
Council said numerous separate dumps of carcasses were discovered at locations throughout the property.
An estimated total of around 500 horse carcasses were discovered on the property.
"Some of these carcasses were no more than skeletal remains while others were killed relatively recently," the council said.
NSW Police and other State Government agencies have started collecting evidence for possible offences and regulatory actions under a range of NSW State Government legislation.
