76 sheep die after eating toxic grass in Patan

Palanpur: As many as 77 animals including 76 sheep and a cow died after consuming toxic grass in a field near Shergunj village in Radhanpur taluka of Patan district on Monday night.
The postmortem of the dead animals was done on Tuesday and samples of their flesh and other parts of body were sent for forensic examination.

N H Patel, deputy director of animal husbandry, Patan district panchayat said, “Preliminary investigations reveal that the animals consumed offshoots of jowar crop which many times contains hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) when under-developed. Crops have not grown fully due to scanty rainfall in the region and the farmers did not take the trouble to reap them”.

As a precautionary measure, the dead animals have been buried in deep pits after spraying chemical powder so that the poisoning does not spread.

The sheep were owned by Kheta Rabari, who was migrating from his native Mewana village in Rapar taluka of Kutch, in search of water and fodder due to drought in the arid district.

During his onward journey, Rabari made a night halt in this field. After eating the grass, the animals started dying one after another and the numbers crossed 70.