A nicotine-addicted sheep in southern India has added an unhealthy snack to its diet: cigarettes.
The sheep in the city of Mandya, in the state of Karnataka, is often seen outside tea shops and markets hoping to snag a cigarette and other tobacco products from passersby.
The animal loves nicotine so much that it often eats tobacco over its regular diet of greens and other vegetables.
The sheep in the village of Mandya, in the state of Karnataka, is often seen outside tea shops and markets hoping to snag a cigarette and other tobacco products from passersby
The animal loves nicotine so much that it often eats tobacco over its regular diet of greens and other vegetables
While it prefers cigarettes, the sheep will also snack on hand-rolled ‘beedis’, which consists of unprocessed tobacco wrapped in leaves, and chewing tobacco.
Yashwant, who owns the sheep, said the animal first started snacking on cigarette butts it found while grazing.
‘It could even be seen licking discarded sachets of chewing tobacco,’ Yashwant told Newsflare. ‘The addiction grew and now it prefers cigarettes to its regular fodder.’
While it prefers cigarettes, the sheep will also snack on hand-rolled ‘beedis’, which consists of unprocessed tobacco wrapped in leaves, and chewing tobacco
Yashwant, who owns the sheep, said the animal first started snacking on cigarette butts it found while grazing
Local farmers are said to use small doses of tobacco to get rid of intestinal parasites and worms inside animals.
If an animal falls sick, they are given tobacco in large quantities, farmers said.
But researchers in 2011 found the drug dangerous for both animals and humans to consume.
Researches said that ingesting nicotine could cause excessive salivation, excitement, tremors, vomiting, lack of coordination, weakness, convulsions, respiratory failure and death in animals.