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Sacred bull Shambo slaughtered
Sacred bull Shambo, who had attracted international attention since his diagnosis with tuberculosis and an intense campaign by Hindu groups to save him from slaughter, was put down with a lethal injection after a three-month-long legal battle to save him. "Shambo has been put down by lethal injection last night," a spokesman of the Wales Assembly government said.
The six-year-old Friesian, who tested positive for bovine TB, was moved from the Skanda Vale Temple enclosure last night amid protests by devotees. Police were called in to move more than 100 worshippers who formed a human shield around the sacred bull. Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Security Society, said he was glad "common sense had prevailed at last" and that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for people to say their religious rights were supreme. Hindu leaders are now seeking a meeting with the UK Environment Minister.
Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain Ramesh Kallidai said he wanted to check "how agricultural law can cater to the needs of sacred animals in Hindu temples in Britain". Skanda Vale community leader Brother Alex said that, now Shambo had been slaughtered, a "nightmare" was just beginning for the Welsh Assembly. "Ignorant people have chosen to desecrate our temple and have chosen to destroy life unnecessarily," he said.
The slaughter of Shambo ended a protracted legal battle which started when a TB test returned positive in April and came after the community finally lost its High Court fight on Monday. Last week, a High Court judge gave the community hope when he ruled that two slaughter orders for Shambo "were unlawful and will be quashed". But his ruling was overturned by the appeal court in London on Monday.
A webcam site, dubbed Moo Tube, which the monastery set up to show the flower-garlanded bull in his paddock, said Shambo had been taken away, but a live British Broadcasting Corp. television report showed the bull still in his hay-lined pen.
A veterinary official and two police came to take away Shambo in the morning, but left after monks declined to let them past the monastery gates, saying they needed a warrant. They returned hours later with the document, but only posted it, apparently unwilling to confront more than 100 Hindu devotees who had gathered in front of the bull's paddock to pray and chant.
But they later took action, and dragged away some of the worshippers who refused to leave. Mistry said no one was hurt.
"It's been peaceful, as we've said all along," he said.
"It's bad, but I don't blame the police because they were friendly and they did their duty," said one of the worshippers, Verena Blum.
Regulations stipulate that cattle suspected of carrying bovine tuberculosis be slaughtered; the disease can be spread to other cattle, to deer and in rare cases to humans.
But Hindus saw the controversy as a religious freedom issue.
"This is about the freedom of human beings to express their religious values," said a monk, known as Brother Alex. "We can't be party to the destruction of life."
The monastery suggested it could keep Shambo isolated to prevent the TB spreading. Another monk, known as Brother Michael, said a charity in India had offered to take Shambo, but that authorities had declined permission.
Last week, a Welsh judge ordered local authorities to reconsider their decision to kill the bull, considered sacred in the Hindu faith.
But the Court of Appeal in London reversed that decision Monday, ruling that killing him would be justified to prevent the disease's spread.
The six-year-old Friesian, who tested positive for bovine TB, was moved from the Skanda Vale Temple enclosure last night amid protests by devotees. Police were called in to move more than 100 worshippers who formed a human shield around the sacred bull. Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Security Society, said he was glad "common sense had prevailed at last" and that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for people to say their religious rights were supreme. Hindu leaders are now seeking a meeting with the UK Environment Minister.
Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain Ramesh Kallidai said he wanted to check "how agricultural law can cater to the needs of sacred animals in Hindu temples in Britain". Skanda Vale community leader Brother Alex said that, now Shambo had been slaughtered, a "nightmare" was just beginning for the Welsh Assembly. "Ignorant people have chosen to desecrate our temple and have chosen to destroy life unnecessarily," he said.
The slaughter of Shambo ended a protracted legal battle which started when a TB test returned positive in April and came after the community finally lost its High Court fight on Monday. Last week, a High Court judge gave the community hope when he ruled that two slaughter orders for Shambo "were unlawful and will be quashed". But his ruling was overturned by the appeal court in London on Monday.
A webcam site, dubbed Moo Tube, which the monastery set up to show the flower-garlanded bull in his paddock, said Shambo had been taken away, but a live British Broadcasting Corp. television report showed the bull still in his hay-lined pen.
A veterinary official and two police came to take away Shambo in the morning, but left after monks declined to let them past the monastery gates, saying they needed a warrant. They returned hours later with the document, but only posted it, apparently unwilling to confront more than 100 Hindu devotees who had gathered in front of the bull's paddock to pray and chant.
But they later took action, and dragged away some of the worshippers who refused to leave. Mistry said no one was hurt.
"It's been peaceful, as we've said all along," he said.
"It's bad, but I don't blame the police because they were friendly and they did their duty," said one of the worshippers, Verena Blum.
Regulations stipulate that cattle suspected of carrying bovine tuberculosis be slaughtered; the disease can be spread to other cattle, to deer and in rare cases to humans.
But Hindus saw the controversy as a religious freedom issue.
"This is about the freedom of human beings to express their religious values," said a monk, known as Brother Alex. "We can't be party to the destruction of life."
The monastery suggested it could keep Shambo isolated to prevent the TB spreading. Another monk, known as Brother Michael, said a charity in India had offered to take Shambo, but that authorities had declined permission.
Last week, a Welsh judge ordered local authorities to reconsider their decision to kill the bull, considered sacred in the Hindu faith.
But the Court of Appeal in London reversed that decision Monday, ruling that killing him would be justified to prevent the disease's spread.