UK: Uproar as Shambo the sacred bull is reprieved (Hindu rights trump agricultural safeguards)

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | July 17, 2007 | Richard Alleyne

[Stoat]

Uproar as Shambo the sacred bull is reprieved

By Richard Alleyne
 

Last Updated: 2:57am BST 17/07/2007

• Moo tube: Shambo's webcam

  Farmers have condenmed a "ludicrous" High Court decision to reprieve a bull infected with TB because it was worshipped by a religious community.

  	Shambo was to be destroyed in line with agricultural safeguards after testing positive for bovine TB

  Shambo, a six-year-old Friesian, was to be destroyed in line with agricultural safeguards after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis.

  The decision was overturned by a High Court judge who said that the slaughter would contravene the human rights of the Skanda Vale Community, in Carmarthenshire, which shielded him in line with the Hindu faith. Hindus believe cows are sacred animals that must be protected.

  The judge said the cow’s death would interfere with the community’s right to “manifest” its religious beliefs under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

  Evan Thomas, who represents the Farmers' Union of Wales on the Welsh Assembly's TB action group, said: "This ludicrous ruling contradicts the principles upon which successful TB eradication programmes throughout the world have been based for generations.

  "It seems that the British justice system is now content to put human health and animal welfare at grave risk.

  "What will happen if in six months' time this animal is coughing up blood and is so emaciated that it cannot hold its own weight? Will the judge make a similar ldecision?"

  Mr Thomas said tests on other animals in the Skanda Vale herd had already shown worrying signs of potential infection.

  He said: "This area has suffered the ravages of TB for years and this ruling has infuriated all those farmers who have lost thousands of animals to this disease.

  "The fact that the judgment will now place their farms at greater risk will further dishearten an already depressed community."

  His views were echoed by Brynle Williams, the Conservative agriculture spokesman in the Welsh Assembly, who said: "I'm absolutely appalled by this decision. I've seen what TB has done to families in the countryside. This has made a shambles of our efforts to control the spread of TB." Both supported the Welsh Assembly's decision to appeal against the judgment.

  Mr Justice Hickinbottom said in Cardiff yesterday that the Assembly "has adopted the wrong approach in this case" and would now have to reconsider the unlawful decision to slaughter the animal.

  The judge said: "This judgment does not, of course, guarantee that, as the community wishes, Shambo will live until he dies a natural death.

  "The assembly will have to reconsider the public health objectives behind the surveillance and slaughter policy, and come to a view as to whether the slaughter of this animal would be proportional given the serious infringement of the community's rights under Article 9 of the Human Rights Act that slaughter would involve."

  Members of the Skanda Vale community, which had threatened to make a human chain around the animal, said they were delighted with the judge's assessment that killing Shambo would be "a violation of their beliefs".

  Ramesh Kallidai, of the Hindu Forum of Britain, which has acted on behalf of the temple during the campaign, called the decision a "landmark judgment".

  He said: "The High Court came to the right conclusion when it said that slaughtering Shambo would be a gross interference of the Hindu community's right to worship.

  "We commend the proportionate response of the judges, especially as Shambo will never enter the human chain. "A key criticism of the earlier decision to slaughter Shambo had been the subjectivity and hence unreliability of the test for tuberculosis."

  He added: "Any test that is used should be something that can protect livelihoods as well. Changing policy is in everyone's interest."

  Shambo has been living alone in a temple since testing positive for TB in May.

[Stoat]

The judge said the cow’s death would interfere with the community’s right to “manifest” its religious beliefs under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

**************************************

• Evan Thomas, who represents the Farmers' Union of Wales on the Welsh Assembly's TB action group, said: "This ludicrous ruling contradicts the principles upon which successful TB eradication programmes throughout the world have been based for generations.

  "It seems that the British justice system is now content to put human health and animal welfare at grave risk.

  "What will happen if in six months' time this animal is coughing up blood and is so emaciated that it cannot hold its own weight? Will the judge make a similar ldecision?"

  Mr Thomas said tests on other animals in the Skanda Vale herd had already shown worrying signs of potential infection.

  He said: "This area has suffered the ravages of TB for years and this ruling has infuriated all those farmers who have lost thousands of animals to this disease.

  "The fact that the judgment will now place their farms at greater risk will further dishearten an already depressed community."

 

[End Times Sentinel]

Farmers have condenmed a "ludicrous" High Court decision to reprieve a bull infected with TB because it was worshipped by a religious community.

I was under the impression that they thought cows were reincarnations of their relatives or something. They worship cows too? I'll wait for confirmation before taking a reporter's word on it.

Owl_Eagle

If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.

[Stoat]

DNR - Bovine Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious disease caused when bacteria attack the respiratory system. There are three types of TB - human, avian, and bovine. Human TB is rarely transmitted to non-humans, avian TB is typically restricted to birds (pigs and occasionally other animals have been found to be susceptible), and bovine TB - or cattle TB - is the most infectious, capable of infecting most mammals. Bovine TB is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) which is part of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

the same judicial system that prevents a teenager from wearing a small and unobtrusive ring to school (citing religious markings on it) imposes this unhealthy cow upon the citizenry?

just incredible!

[Stoat]

I'll wait for confirmation before taking a reporter's word on it.

Regardless of the 'reporter's word', this matter has been judged as such in court and carries the force of law.

[Cailleach]

so...um...is it a bull or a cow? It’s refered to as both in the article. There is a bit of a difference between the two that should be noticable... LOL

[edcoil]

BOOM

oopppss

Sorry

Cow gone.

[Stoat]

so...um...is it a bull or a cow? It’s refered to as both in the article. There is a bit of a difference between the two that should be noticable... LOL

I have zero desire to get close enough for direct inspection....you may possibly catch a definitive view by watching the "moo tube" webcam link posted above the article   :-)

[Stoat]

BOOM

oopppss

Sorry

Cow gone.

BOOM

oopppss

Sorry

Cow gone.

[Stoat]

the same judicial system that prevents a teenager from wearing a small and unobtrusive ring to school (citing religious markings on it) imposes this unhealthy cow upon the citizenry?

just incredible!

I was particularly amazed at this ruling considering the massive cull that was recently implemented nationwide to combat Mad Cow disease.  I had assumed that after such a painful, devastatingly expensive and arduous event it would be cause for a particular appreciation for agricultural health and safety issues.

Apparently, I was wrong and once again a minority group's wishes can circumvent long-established laws and solid scientific principles.

The comparison you cite is also quite poignant, in that one could ask "How could this young lady's ring harm anyone or anything, other than the 'sensibilities' of hard-Left, Christian-hating Socialists?"

Whereas in this case, this quote from the article is quite telling:

Mr Thomas said tests on other animals in the Skanda Vale herd had already shown worrying signs of potential infection.

This disease is, apparently, ALREADY a major problem and yet the people who understand it best and who know what to do are being prevented from doing their job by a court.

the same judicial system that prevents a teenager from wearing a small and unobtrusive ring to school (citing religious markings on it) imposes this unhealthy cow upon the citizenry?

just incredible!

[Ace's Dad]

the slaughter would contravene the human rights superstitions of the Skanda Vale Community,

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear! (Luke 8:8)