Eastpointe city employee dumps dead animals at popular park

Dead animals thrown in dumpster at Kennedy Park

EASTPOINTE, Mich. – Visitors to a popular park in Eastpointe were disturbed Tuesday when they learned an animal control worker had thrown dead animals in a dumpster at the park.

Eric Derosia was eating his lunch Tuesday afternoon at Kennedy Park when the animal control truck pulled up.

"(I was) just taking a lunch break on the side of the road," Derosia said.

The truck pulled into the lot off Stephens Road and Schroder Avenue, and Derosia said he quickly lost his appetite.

"At first I was thinking, 'Is she really going to do what I think she's doing?'" Derosia said.

He said the animal control officer opened the compartments and started throwing dead animals in the dumpster.

"I couldn't believe what she was doing at a park like that," Derosia said.

He recorded the city worker dumping the animals in the dumpster in the middle of the park.

"I understand she was doing her job, but a city park? It should have never been there," Derosia said.

Hours after the video was posted online, the post went viral, and even caught the attention of Jason Campbell, who lives near the park.

"(I) wasn't sure if it was real or not, so I drove over here to the park," Campbell said.

When he got there, he said it was real.

"Just standing here, you can already smell it, and just looked right down there and that's where the carcasses are," Campbell said.

The video caught the city's attention, and an official said the worker disposed of "roadkill within state laws, but in light of the public's outcry, it will advise the employee to throw roadkill in a different city receptacle," essentially, not at a park.

Campbell said his children often play in the park, and that the animals that were dumped were more than just roadkill.

"There's at least one cat, probably hit by a car, but it was somebody's pet," Campbell said.


About the Authors:

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.