Residents of Thiba North Village in Mwea West Sub-County, Kirinyaga County were treated to a bizarre spectacle on Wednesday morning when they discovered the carcasses of four stolen donkeys that had been slaughtered, apparently with the intention of selling the meat to unsuspecting locals.

The carcasses were found dumped near Thiba Catholic Church after locals trailed a suspicious-looking vehicle to the organization's grounds only to discover unknown persons in the process of slaughtering the animals which had been reported missing.

The suspects reportedly fled before they could be placed under citizen's arrest.

"When villagers raised an alarm the gang of young men escaped and left the meat they had slaughtered. My donkey was among the four," Bernard Maina, a resident, revealed.

The residents subsequently alerted local authorities who arrived at the scene and processed it.

Speaking at the scene, Mary Wambui Muthee, a county official leading the fight against abuse of animals in Kirinyaga, decried that local youth had been rendered jobless following rising cases of donkey theft in the region.

"Several youths in Mwea who have been depending on the donkeys to transport rice and fetch water using donkeys have been left jobless over the increase of donkey theft," she said.

"This is not the first incident. yesterday two donkeys were stolen and slaughtered before the suspects escaped with the meat in a probox vehicle at Ngurubani town," another resident added.

The carcasses were later set on fire by veterinary officers who also arrived at the scene