The photo of eight dead cattle that were dumped on the Diengpasoh bypass that went viral recently is two weeks’ old and the deaths are not connected to lumpy skin disease (LSD).
It is suspected that the cattle died in transit and were dumped at the site by transporters, who are likely to have been smuggling the animals, sources said.
The Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department is on high alert over LSD, for which rules are in place to contain its spread. Dead animals afflicted by the disease are meant to be buried and their meat not consumed, though the disease does not affect humans.
Secretary to the department, C Manjunatha, said that the Veterinary Officer of East Khasi Hills confirmed that the photos that have spread like wildfire on social media in the last couple of days are actually several days old.
Post-mortem investigations of the carcasses found that the cattle were not infected with LSD but died during transit. The bodies of the animals were buried after the autopsies.
“It seems the carcasses were dumped there. Soon after the administration and police were informed, an inquiry was conducted and a post-mortem was carried out by the district veterinary officials who ascertained that the cattle died a natural death during transit and dumped at the spot where they were found,” he said.
