The Punjab police have arrested the two primary suspects of an alleged incident of animal cruelty and maiming of a donkey in Chiniot district, it emerged on Friday.

A first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, of the incident was registered on Thursday at the Langrana police station under Pakistan Penal Code Section 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle) against the complaint of Mansab Dar.

District Police Officer (DPO) Abdullah Ahmed confirmed the arrest of the two nominated suspects in the FIR to Dawn.com.

According to the FIR, Dar was a poor man whose female donkey was grazing outside his house on Thursday when the suspects forcibly took her inside a mansion and began beating her with sticks and rods.

The report said the first named suspect attacked and injured her in the stomach with a pointed weapon, adding that the complainant was wandering around looking around for his donkey when he was informed about her being taken away. He retrieved the donkey from the mansion.

A statement from the police spokesperson said that DPO Ahmed took notice of the incident and ordered immediate legal action.

It said the police arrested the primary suspect after registering the case, adding that he had allegedly injured the donkey with a pointed weapon. The animal has been admitted to a facility for medical treatment.

“Such incidents are intolerable. The rule of law will be ensured,” the statement quoted the DPO as saying.

A gruesome video of the injured donkey provided by the police showed her bloodied with internal organs protruding out of the wound.

JFK Animal Rescue and Shelter head Zufishan Anushay told Dawn.com today that cases of animal cruelty were increasing in society and could only be controlled through the introduction of “severe punishments” for the culprits.

She said there was no awareness among the public about animal rights in Pakistan, adding that an awareness campaign should be launched to educate people.

Anushay pointed out anomalies in current animal laws, saying: “We are following century-old rights to tackle the criminals.

She explained that in such cases, the fines are usually minimal, and courts typically grant bail right away. Consequently, suspects can often escape serious penalties by paying these small fines.

Anushay said the government should make the laws strong and introduce severe punishments for such perpetrators.

The incident comes amid a string of recent acts of animal cruelty in the country. A man cut off the tongue of a buffalo while another cut off the ears of his donkey in separate incidents in Shahpur city earlier this week.

On June 16 in Hyderabad, a donkey’s owner brutally beat him to a point where both his hind legs were broken with muscles and ligaments torn beyond repair.

The donkey was moved to a shelter in Karachi for treatment and fought a tough fight, defying the odds and attempting to stand tall on his fragmented joints. But the injuries, the infection, and the gangrene were far too grave for him to cope and he tragically passed away a few days later.

On June 14, a local landlord in Sindh’s Sanghar district allegedly chopped off a camel’s leg as punishment for daring to venture into his field for fodder in the Mund Jamrao village.