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Bull To Get Chop
Shambo, the six year old bull infected with TB given a reprieve from compulsory slaughter because of its owners' religious beliefs has had its appeal wiped out. Britain's Court of Appeal ruled that the animal's slaughter was justified.
The bull is kept by a colony of Hindu monks in Wales. The religious community say that the animal is sacred to them - their representative in the court argue that killing Shambo would be "like killing a human being."
They argued successfully last week that the Welsh Assembly's approved testing system for Bovine Tuberculosis (BTB) was faulty; the judge also found that the Assembly's notice to slaughter the animal failed to take account of the sensibilities of the monks, who claim that the slaughter would be a "grave desecration" of their sanctuary. Hindu organisations also weighed in with support for the bull.
However, the London appeal court overturned the ruling yesterday, ruling that the Rural Affairs minister had been right to ignore the animal's status within the religious community when ordering the slaughter.
This would seem to be in accord with the European Convention on Human Rights, which defends the 'Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs' but allows limitations beas on health and public safety. While the monks argue that as a sacred beast in a vegetarian commune Shambo will not enter the food chain, other farmers worry that their herds are threatened by the outbreak and it should be contained with the slaughter of the infected animal as previous outbreaks have been. Welsh farmers unions welcomed the decision.
Shambo's guardians are expected to appeal to Britain's House of Lords.
