Animal rights activists have urged the Nepali government to stop what they’ve called “an appalling bloodbath” after they claimed thousands of animals were killed as part of a festival held every five years that traditionally ends with a mass animal sacrifice.

Activists and government officials have raised concerns about the ritualistic slaughter of thousands of animals at the temple in Nepal.

Blood oozed across the dry, dusty earth as the high priest of Gadhimai raised his traditional khukuri knife and beheaded the five animals before him, triggering a frenzy of killing in the early hours of a foggy Sunday morning.