Hindu cattle slughtered as TB suspects
Hindu monks at the Skanda Vale multi-faith temple in Carmarthenshire did not resist Welsh animal health staff removing two bovines possibly infected with TB.
Spokesman Brother Alex said the monks and nuns were devastated by the further desecration of the centre in order to destroy the lives of animals they held sacred. They were particularly upset when a veterinary surgeon decided that a 16 year old Jersey bullock, which had been unable to stand for a year, should be given a lethal injection on the spot.
A water buffalo calf, which monks claimed had no symptoms of disease, was loaded onto a trailer to be killed at another location.
Both animals had given inconclusive tuberculin tests at the same time as a bullock monks called Shambo tested positive. His removal and slaughter on July 26, which followed legal challenges that reached the High Court in London, was resisted by hundreds of pilgrims to the centre.
Police support was needed to load the bullock, and his slaughter brought protests from Hindus and animal rights activists in many countries. However, a subsequent post mortem revealed respiratory tract lesions indicative of bovine TB.