As many as 34 sheep and goats died after drinking pesticide-laced water at Nrupatunga Colony on the outskirts of Kalaburagi on Sunday.
Namdev Rathod, in-charge Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry Department, who inspected the carcases, said that the incident occurred after the sheep and the goats consumed water from a tank situated beside a warehouse. It was suspected that the sheep consumed pesticide-mixed water that came from the warehouse, fell unconscious and died later. The 34 sheep and goats that died were among the around 200 belonging to a group of shepherds who grazed animals in open land.
Of the dead, 26 sheep belonged to Sharbanna Mareppa and Lakshman Pujari, and the remaining belonged to Siabanna Saibaal of Rastapur village in Shahpur taluk of Yadgir district.