The Concord residents, who are used to people dumping rubbish in their street, were worried it could have contained a human body and called police.
When police arrived in Emerson St on May 12 they discovered the bag contained animal remains.
Emerson St resident Fiona Nicholson said the dumping of the carcass was part of wider trend where people dumped their trash on the street.
"I think they can’t be bothered going to the tip.
"It’s often green waste, the stuff down there, and often I just pick it up, but I’m not picking that up. It’s most probably maggoty by now and I’ll be vomiting if I tried."
There were a lot of empty sections and people were taking advantage of the lack of residents in the area, she said.
Fellow Emerson St resident Ken Close said he was disappointed that after police left council contractors came and cleaned other "insignificant" rubbish that had been dumped in the area, but left the carcass behind.
"Anyone in their right mind would clean that first.
"What do rodents go for?
"They go for the caviar not the other stuff.
A Dunedin City Council spokesman said the council was aware of recent incidents involving illegal dumping of rubbish in the street and in the vicinity of Dunedin Cemetery.
Its contractors were regularly visiting the area and clearing rubbish they found as they came across it, he said.
"It’s always really disappointing when we see this sort of behaviour and we encourage everyone to dispose of their rubbish properly," he said.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police were called to Emerson St in Concord after a resident reported a "suspicious looking" bag with "decaying remains" inside.
When police searched the bag, they located animal remains and asked the council to dispose of them.
The bag with the remains was still there yesterday morning.
