ISLAMABAD: Police in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province this week arrested five persons for their involvement in chopping off a camel’s leg, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

Local media reports said a landlord in Sanghar district’s Mund Jamrao village allegedly had a camel’s leg chopped off on Friday after the animal trespassed into his field for fodder.

The owner of the camel, a poor peasant named Soomar Behan, was contacted by police after the episode went viral on social media. However, Behan refused to file charges against the landlord following which police took action.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon confirmed that a case had been registered against the accused for amputating the camel on the state’s behalf, describing it as a “humanely unacceptable” act.

“He said that the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had taken notice of the incident,” APP said on Saturday. “Sharjeel said that the five accused had been arrested.”

Sanghar lawmaker Shazia Ata Marri wrote on social media platform X police took action as soon as she learned about the “horrible and painful” incident.

“While the police is still doing its work, proper medical treatment is being provided to the poor animal,” she wrote on X.

Section 429 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) states that anyone who kills, poisons, maims, or renders useless any animal of the value of ten rupees or upwards, shall be punished with imprisonment of either a term of up to two years or be fined for the offense, or both.

CDRS Benji Project Karachi Shelter, a local non-profit organization working for stray and injured animals in Pakistan, provided treatment to the injured camel at a shelter in Karachi on Saturday night. 

“Cammie the camel is settling into her new home,” the NGO posted on Facebook with a video showing the camel feeding, a white bandage wrapped around her leg. 

“She is in pain, and it was traumatizing for her to be carried into the shelter. But she is eating now and taking in everything around her with those beautiful, intelligent eyes.”

The NGO said its staff had cleaned the camel’s wound to make sure it was not infected.