A few days ago, a brutal incident of animal cruelty took the entire internet by storm when a pregnant elephant in Kerala died because of consuming a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers which was allegedly fed to her. 

Quint

On Saturday, The Himachal Pradesh Police arrested a person for carrying out a similar incident. The accused fed wheat flour balls laced with firecrackers to a cow in Bilaspur. 

Similar to the elephant’s jaw and trunk, the cow’s mouth suffered several severe injuries due to the explosion. 

The Tribune

According to various reports, the cow was also pregnant. The cow’s owner has accused one of his neighbours of this brutal act. He believes that Nand Lal fed his cow the firecracker laced dough when the animals were grazing the fields. 

Sakal Times ( Representational Image)

Bilaspur Superintendent of Police, Devakar Sharma said that a case under Section 286 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act has been registered. He also revealed that the role of the main accused and a few other people were being investigated. 

Just Dial

However, wildlife officials claim that lacing edibles with firecrackers is a common practice for farmers to kill wild animals, mainly the blue bulls and wild boars, to protect their crops.  

Whether it was a laid out trap for wild animals or an intentional act to feed the wheat dough stuffed with firecrackers, the fact remains that this is a heinous act of animal cruelty that needs to stop.