KERN COUNTY, Calif. -- Hundreds of dead sheep have been found dumped on vacant land near Interstate 5.

A man camping in the area found the animal carcasses after hearing someone dump the bodies of the lambs at night.

Kern County Animal Control officers said they are investigating who owns the land and whether animal disposal laws are being broken. The officer came out to the vacant land Thursday afternoon after being contacted by Eyewitness News.

A wide area is dotted by piles of dead sheep and lambs. Some are in shallow hollows in the ground, but none are covered up. The animals are in various stages of decay.

"The smell is like total death. It's choking," said the camper, who did not want to be identified. "And if you stand around it long enough, you'll taste it."

The camper said he heard a truck pull into the area a couple nights before. He didn't get a good look at the people with the truck but later discovered dead lambs, which he believes the truck had dumped off.

The property is south of Highway 119 and east of I-5. A flock of sheep can be seen a few miles away, north of 119. The camper said he thinks the location has been used by sheep herders, and he has theories about why the animals were left here.

"If you get sick ones, or ones that died at birth, then instead of taking them to where they could be disposed of, they bring them here to dispose of them," he said. "This is not right, and it should stop."

Animal Control director Guy Shaw sent out a senior officer, and they will now try to determine why the animals were put there. The officer spotted piles of bones, so they believe the dumping could have gone on for a long time.

Some of the animals appear to have been skinned and the heads cut off. Officers are not sure why that could have been done, but said there could be legitimate reasons for it.

The officer on scene said it looks like the animals were dead before that happened, so he saw no sign of animal abuse.

Animal control officers said the code enforcement department could also be contacted because of what appears to be illegal dumping in the same area. There are several large pile of discarded tires, and some spots with pieces of rusted metal.

The environmental health department will be asked to review the laws on animal disposal to see if there are violations related to the dumping of the dead animals.

The camper who found that, and reported it, is disgusted by the scene.

"It's got to stop. This is not right," he said, walking around the piles of rotting carcasses.

He's so upset, the man has put up makeshift crosses near some of the dead animals, saying they deserved better than this.

"They shouldn't do this to animals, I don't care what it is," he said.