In a shocking incident, a large number of goats were killed in Mirpurkhas reportedly after they were fed some “poisonous’” plants, prompting Sindh Home Minister Sindh Ziaul Hasan Lanjar to order an inquiry into the case, officials said on Wednesday.

The Home Minister’s Spokesperson Sohail Ahmed Jokhio told Dawn.com that “over 100 goats have been killed in Digri taluka of Mirpurkhas division after eating some poisonous grass.”

“District Mirpurkhas police are on the case, a first information report is being lodged, and an inquiry committee under the Crime Investigation Agency Deputy Superintendent of Police has been constituted to probe the incident,” Jokhio said.

He hinted at the possibility that the incident might be an outcome of some “personal enmity” with the owners of the animals.

The home minister has sought details from Mirpurkhas’ senior superintendent of police about the incident, a statement from his office said.

He also directed the police to carry out a thorough probe to ascertain the facts of the case while also issuing directions for “strict legal action against the suspect(s) involved in it in light of inquiry findings.”

Several incidents related to animal cruelty surfaced this year. In June, a landlord from Sanghar allegedly mutilated a camel’s right leg as “punishment” for foraging into his farmland for fodder.

Also in June, the ACF Animal Rescue shelter released a graphic and horrifically disturbing video showing a group of adult men throwing a dog from the terrace of a building in Karachi’s Liaquatabad. The footage resulted in calls for immediate action to protect stray animals from such vile and inhumane behaviour.

In yet another incident of animal cruelty on June 18, a donkey (jennet) had its ears severed in a village in Rawalpindi district, with its owner accusing another man of committing the brutality but police suspecting that the incident could be the culmination of longstanding enmity and land dispute.