A Saudi farmer poured petrol on eight of his sheep and one camel and set them on fire alive after suspecting they are infected with rabies, a newspaper in the oil-rich Gulf country reported on Tuesday.

After making sure they are all dead, the man in the northwestern province of Hail went to local agriculture authorities and informed them about his action.

“The man told the agriculture department that he decided to set the animals on fire after noticing that they are attacking each other more often,” Okaz said.

“He said he suspected that they could be infected with rabies and that he feared they could infect other animals in the area.”