Mystery monster shocks New York

The body of a mystery animal which washed up on a New York beach has sparked a wave of conspiracy theories.

Online debates speculate whether the 'monster' is a pig, a dog, a giant rat or some kind of mutant, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The New York Parks Department insists the animal is a pig bloated by being in the river - but it appears to have toes rather than hooves.

The creature was spotted and photographed by Denise Ginley who was walking under the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan.

Mrs Ginley said: "We were horrified by it and we took some camera phone pictures and then finally we decided to come back with my camera and I got up the courage to climb over the fence and get closer to it."

And she added: "I definitely agree that the feet are not pig-like at all. No hooves or cloven feet to be seen it definitely had five toes on all its paws, front and back.

"I think it could be a monstrously huge rat, but it could also be a monster. A rat that big would pretty much be a monster anyway, wouldn't it?"

One online commentator speculated: "I don't think it's purely coincidence that these unidentifiable creatures have washed up on shores around Plum Island where the government has their Center for Animal Diseases.

"I think these poor things are lab experiments the govt doesn't want us to know about."

But a spokesman for the New York Parks Department insisted: "It was a pig left over from a cookout. We disposed of it. It was a roasted pig we threw it out. We didn't count its toes, we just threw it out."