It began as an unusual find, a few dead pigs in the river. But it quickly went from unusual to downright gross as thousands of adult and juvenile carcasses were found and pulled out.

So far there is no word on where the pigs came from or what killed them but at least one of the dead animals found in the Shanghai River had a disease that can be fatal to porcines.  Workers in China say they don’t believe the deaths are part of any kind of epidemic but research continues.

As for where the bodies came from, it looks like the city of Jiaxing may be the source.

It turns out there are gangs that buy pigs that die from disease in order to process them even though it’s against the law.

Chinese police have recently cracked down on those actions and locals say that leads to the pigs being tossed in the river.