Sacred bull in Britain to be slaughtered despite Hindu protests
Jul 25, 2007, 15:47 GMT London - A sacred bullock revered by a community of Hindu monks in Britain is to be slaughtered on health grounds despite months of protests and top-level legal wrangling, it was announced Wednesday. Shambo, a six-year-old Friesian found to be infected with bovine tuberculosis three months ago, would be taken away for slaughter early Thursday, its keepers said. However, representatives of the Skanda Vale temple at Llanpumsaint, in Wales in western Britain, warned that officials would have to interrupt an act of worship to retrieve the animal from a locked temple. Hindu leaders, who have doubted the result of the skin test performed on Shambo, had appealed to the regional government of Wales to save the animal in a 'magnanimous gesture.' But the Appeal Court in London ruled earlier this week that Shambo's slaughter was 'justified.' 'Up to the point when it was confirmed to me now, I think everybody was hoping that it just wouldn't happen,' a spokesman for the Hindu Forum of Britain said Wednesday. One of the religious community's monks said they would not allow Shambo to be taken away away without a warrant, and there would be a 'vigil of prayer to the end.' 'There will be a lot of press here and a lots of people here. They will have to physically desecrate a temple to get him. He's locked here and we will be having an act of worship in front of where he is,' the monk said. A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly government said Wednesday the decision to kill Shambo had been 'difficult for all involved.' 'We appeal to the community to co-operate fully in order to minimize distress to the animal and to ensure the safety of all concerned.' http://news.monstersandcritics.com/uk/news/article_1334692.php/Sacred_bull_in_Britain_to_be_slaughtered_despite_Hindu_protests -- DEV BOREM KORUM. Gabe Menezes. London, England
