Welsh Hindus fight to save sacred bull

By Avril Ormsby

LONDON (Reuters) - Hindus in west Wales are fighting to save Shambo, a sacred bull, from slaughter after it tested positive for bovine tuberculosis.

Followers at the Skanda Vale temple in Llanpumsaint, Carmarthen, are considering forming a human chain in an attempt to save the temple bull from the abattoir, and have launched a petition on their Web site www.skandavale.org/shambo.htm.

Appeals to the Welsh Assembly and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs have failed, and a notice of intended slaughter has been issued.

The Hindu order at Skanda Vale, the Community of the Many Names of God, said in a statement: "If we were to permit DEFRA to kill Shambo it would be an appalling desecration of life, the sanctity of our temples and Hinduism as a whole.

"We could no more allow the slaughter of Shambo than we could the killing of a human being. Ultimately, we will be willing to defend his life with our own."

Swami Suryananda, a senior monk at the monastery, said the issue had "galvanised" Hindus.

"Shambo is a healthy animal, and we hope we can find a third way with the assembly and DEFRA to save him," he told Reuters.

The current policy of DEFRA is to slaughter any animal that tests positive for the disease, although it said in this particular case it was an issue for the Welsh Assembly.