Sacred Cow With Bovine TB 'To Be Put Down'
WALES - A "sacred" Welsh bullock who tested positive for bovine tuberculosis is to be slaughtered despite wide-ranging protests from the Hindu temple where he is kept, which established a MooTube webcam so that the animal's supporters could follow his every move.
27 June 2007
1 minute read
| Shambo the bullock, destined for slaughter after testing positive for bovine TB |
The Welsh Assembly today said that it had provisionally decided to give vets the go-ahead to slaughter Shambo, at the Skanda Vale community in Llanpumsiant, in west Wales, in order to "protect animal and human health".
In addition, Jane Davidson, the assembly's Sustainability Minister, said that further tests at the start of this month had revealed that at least two other cattle in the Skanda Vale community may also have the disease. Tests are continuing, but if found to be infected these cattle are also likely to be slaughtered.
Monks at the temple say that there is no possibility of Shambo entering the human food chain and have isolated him from the rest of their herd of 55 cattle. They claim that the test shows only that there is a “statistical possibility” he could develop TB and their own vet has declared Shambo “thoroughly healthy”.
They have also threatened to take direct action, including forming a human chain around Shambo, should vets move in to slaughter him - and have set up a webcam where viewers can watch Shambo all day every day.
Source: TheTimes
Watch Shambo live on his MooTube webcam
To view our previous news on Shambo, click here.
