Sacred bull Shambo to be slaughtered Thursday
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 | 8:24 PM ET
CBC News
The court decision allowing a sacred bull in Wales to live has been overturned, so Shambo will be slaughtered Thursday, the animal's keepers said Wednesday.
The six-year-old black Friesian bull, revered by Hindu monks at the Skanda Vale community in southwest Wales, was diagnosed in April with bovine tuberculosis. Regulations stipulate that cattle suspected of carrying TB be destroyed.
More than 20,000 people joined an online campaign to save the infected bull, saying the proposed slaughter would violate sacred religious principles.
To help publicize the case, the monastery launched an internet petition, a blog offering Shambo's daily thoughts and a "Moo Tube" webcast tracking the bull's movements around its hay-filled shrine.
While farmers sympathized with the temple and their worship of Shambo, they argued the bull should be put down in the same way as commercial livestock in order "to protect both human and animal health."
The Welsh Assembly agreed with the farmers, and ordered Shambo's death two weeks ago.
That decision was quashed earlier this week by a High Court judge in Cardiff, but on Thursday a London Court of Appeal reversed the decision, ruling that Shambo's slaughter was justified.
Shambo will be taken away at 8 a.m. local time Thursday, the monks said.
