Abandoned when Pakistan’s largest cities went into lockdown, hundreds of caged cats, dogs and rabbits have been found dead inside pet markets hurriedly shuttered as the coronavirus spread.

Survivors from the specialist corner of Karachi’s sprawling Empress Market were only rescued after activists appealed to the authorities for access.

Two weeks into the shutdown, Ayesha Chundrigar could hear the cries of the pets from outside the shops, which together housed up to 1,000 animals.

“When we got inside, the majority of them were dead, about 70 percent. Their bodies were lying on the ground,” Chundrigar, who runs ACF Animal Rescue, told AFP.

“It was so horrific, I can’t tell you.”