Shambo ( c. 2001 – 26 July 2007) was a black Friesian bull living in the interfaith Skanda Vale Temple near

Llanpumsaint Llanpumsaint (; Welsh "Llan" church + "pum" five + "saint" saint(s)) is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. In the 2001 UK Census, Llanpumsaint community had a population of 595. It is not to be confused with Pumsaint, a small v ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

who had been adopted by the local Hindu community as a sacred animal. He came to public attention in April 2007, when a routine

skin test A skin test is a medical test in which a substance is injected into the skin. Examples * Casoni test * Corneometry * Dick test * Fernandez reaction * Frei test * Hair perforation test * Kveim test * Leishmanin skin test * Lepromin * Pat ...

for bovine

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

(''

Mycobacterium bovis ''Mycobacterium bovis'' is a slow-growing (16- to 20-hour generation time) Aerobic organism, aerobic bacterium and the causative agent of tuberculosis in cattle (known as bovine TB). It is related to ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'', the bacterium ...

'') tested positive, indicating he may have been in contact with the bacterium that causes the disease. As a result, the Welsh Government required that the bull be slaughtered. Skanda Vale disputed this and campaigned for a reprieve, expressing their belief that the sanctity of all life is the cornerstone of Hinduism. They were backed in this stance by the Hindu religious community at large. Farmers supported the Welsh Government's policy that cattle which tested positive to the skin test are culled in the interests of other local cattle. On 15 July 2007, Deputy High Court judge

Gary Hickinbottom Sir Gary Robert Hickinbottom (born 22 December 1955) is a British judge who currently serves as President of Welsh Tribunals and as Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor. In 2008, he became the fourth solicitor to be appoi ...

ruled that slaughtering Shambo would be unlawful, since the two slaughter orders had failed to give enough weight to the rights of the monks, and that killing Shambo would violate the human rights of the Skanda Vale community, which had a right to "manifest" its religious faith, according to Article 9 of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

("right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion"). A spokesman for the Farmers' Union of Wales called the ruling "ludicrous", arguing that it "contradicts the principles upon which successful TB eradication programmes throughout the world have been based for generations."Alleyne, Richard
"Uproar as Shambo the sacred bull is reprieved"
17 July 2007. On 23 July 2007, the Court of Appeal upheld the Welsh Assembly Government's appeal. Lord Justice Pill said former rural affairs minister

Jane Davidson Jane Davidson (born 19 March 1957) is a Welsh former Labour politician, the former Assembly Member for Pontypridd, and served as minister for environment, sustainability and housing in the Welsh Government. She also previously served as the ...

acted lawfully when she refused to make an exception for Shambo as a sacred bull. Shambo was seized on 26 July 2007, and confirmed slaughtered the following day. A postmortem subsequently revealed that Shambo had lesions 'typical of TB'.

Campaign to save Shambo

The Hindu community launched an international campaign to save him, arguing that to kill Shambo would be equivalent to taking a human life. Temple monks said they would form a human chain to save him, asking on their website: "If a member of your family is suspected of getting TB, does the government kill them, just in case?" They collected over 24,000 names on a petition asking the government to issue a reprieve.

Sanctity of life in Hindu tradition

According to Skanda Vale, the

sanctity Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

of all

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

is the cornerstone of Hinduism. Ramesh Kallidai, secretary-general of the Hindu Forum of Britain, wrote that the cow and bull are given a sacred place in

Hindu culture Hinduism () is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions ( ''sampradaya''s) that are unified by adherence to the concept of ''dharma'', a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and right ...

as a mark of respect. The cow symbolizes motherhood through the offering of milk, and the bull represents the father who tills the soil and provides grain. Kallidai writes that most Hindus consider bovicide to be equivalent to

matricide Matricide (or maternal homicide) is the act of killing one's own mother. Known or suspected matricides * Amastris, queen of Heraclea, was drowned by her two sons in 284 BC. * Cleopatra III of Egypt was assassinated in 101 BC by order of ...

, and that ''go raksha'' (cow protection) is an important part of the Hindu faith. According to

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, "One can measure the greatness of a nation and its moral progress by the way it treats its animals. Cow protection to me is not mere protection of the cow. It means protection of all that lives and is helpless and weak in the world. The cow means the entire subhuman world."

Controversy about the test and treatment

Shambo tested positive during a routine skin test in April 2007. According to Skanda Vale, tests on Shambo were not accurate enough — they said it was "extremely unlikely" that Shambo was infected. David Taylor, a vet who examined Shambo, said, "he is a very healthy bull, with no symptoms of TB. It would be an absolute crime to put that animal down." He also argued that the tests were completely subjective.David Taylor interview
Skanda Vale website ( wmv video file). The Welsh Assembly refused to carry out a second test to confirm exposure to bacteria. According to a report by the Welsh Assembly, whether an animal is suffering from TB can only be shown by

post-mortem An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death ...

examination or by microbiological analysis after death, but they say the test for exposure to the bacteria that cause the disease is 99.9% accurate and is recognized by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and by the

World Organisation for Animal Health The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), formerly the (OIE), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1924, coordinating, supporting and promoting animal disease control. The primary objective of WOAH is to control epizootic dis ...

. Against this, Skanda Vale argued that, if Shambo had bovine TB, he could be treated using antibiotics. The temple asked the government to grant permission for the treatment to proceed. The Welsh Assembly argued that, since there are no antibiotics licensed in the UK for treating bovine TB in cattle, there would be no way of testing whether he had been cured. However, Skanda Vale argues that cows are successfully treated for bovine TB in India.

Position of the main political parties and farmers

Three parties represented in the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

— the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

, Liberal Democrats, and

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

— called for Shambo to be destroyed, arguing that he posed a danger to other animals. There were 50 animals within the grounds of the temple, including cattle,

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...

, and an elephant.

Andrew Dismore Andrew Hartley Dismore (born 2 September 1954) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who was the Member of the London Assembly for Barnet and Camden (London Assembly constituency), Barnet and Camden from 2012 London Assembly electio ...

, Labour Party Member of Parliament for

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, tabled an

early day motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by a member of Parliament, which the Government (in charge of parliamentary business) has not yet scheduled for debate. Hi ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

: "That this House expresses concern at the decision of DEFRA inspectors, that Shambo the bull, part of the herd kept at Skanda Vale Hindu temple and monastery must be slaughtered; recognises this to be a matter of utmost importance to the Hindu community, with some 90,000 pilgrims annually visiting Skanda Vale from around the country, who regard such slaughter as an act of desecration; and urges the Government to use its discretion under s34 of the Animal Health Act, 1981, to reprieve Shambo."

David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member o ...

, the former Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), confirmed in his official

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

that the matter came under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Assembly, not the House of Commons.Shambo
entry on David Miliband's blog, 11 May 2007 The farming community expressed support for the government's decision to 'destroy' Shambo, citing the 5,220 cattle

cull Culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific trait. This is done to exagge ...

ed in Wales in 2006, and the 20,000 in the UK in total, as a result of the TB test. The vice president of the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW), said "We have to follow the rules like everybody else and I won't say we don't have sympathy because you know the farmers who've lost cattle do sympathise"."Shambo slaughter vets turned away"
, BBC News, 26 July 2007.

High Court decision, appeal, and slaughter

The decisions to issue a slaughter notice and to proceed with the slaughter were challenged on

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

before the Administrative Court of the High Court, which quashed both decisions. The judge,

, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, ruled that the government had failed to carry out the balancing exercise required by Article 9 of the

European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the ...

(freedom of religion). The judge's decision was promptly appealed by the Welsh Assembly Government. The

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

upheld the appeal on 23 July 2007, and ruled that it was lawful to destroy the bull. Skanda Vale was notified that Shambo would be taken away for slaughter on 26 July 2007 at 8 am. Veterinarians arrived at the temple at 08:50 on 26 July accompanied by police and other officials, but without a cattle truck to remove Shambo. They were refused entry by the monks because they had no warrant, and left to obtain one from a local

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

. A warrant could not be issued until they had been refused entry, according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.Weaver, Matthew
"Shambo to the slaughter"
, ''

'', 26 July 2007. One of the monks said "They will have to physically desecrate a temple to get him ... we will be having an act of worship in front of where he is. If the Welsh Assembly Government want to take him out of there, they will have to interrupt an act of worship." "Our religious laws prevent us from assisting in the killing of any life and so we will not help the inspectors remove Shambo." At 2:00 pm the officials returned with two warrants which gave them permission to enter within one calendar month, but failed to gain access to the bull. At about 4:00 pm, police used bolt cutters to get through the gate and move their vehicles – including an animal trailer and four riot vans. The bull was removed from the site at around 7:25 pm, after protesters had been removed, who had come from as far away as

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The animal was taken to a local

abattoir In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat ...

for slaughter. Officials confirmed on 27 July that Shambo had been slaughtered."Officials confirm death of Shambo"
, BBC News, 27 July 2007

Offer of a home in India

On 26 July 2007, the Govardhan Charitable Trust, a sanctuary for cows in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, wrote to the temple offering Shambo a home. The Trust appealed to the Welsh Assembly to refrain from killing Shambo until the Trust could arrange for the government of India to approve the import. The Trust's letter quoted

: "We should be willing to refuse to live if the price of living be the torture of sentient beings." Transportation for Shambo was organised by a supporter from Switzerland.

Aftermath of slaughter

After the slaughter of the bull, Skanda Vale community leader "Brother Alex" threatened that a "nightmare" was just beginning for the Welsh Assembly. Secretary General Ramesh Kallidai said, "Ignorant people have chosen to desecrate our temple and have chosen to destroy life unnecessarily", and he wanted "to check how agricultural law can cater to the needs of sacred animals in Hindu temples in Britain". The Welsh Assembly Government subsequently announced that postmortem examination of Shambo did reveal

lesion A lesion is any damage or abnormal change in the tissue of an organism, usually caused by injury or diseases. The term ''Lesion'' is derived from the Latin meaning "injury". Lesions may occur in both plants and animals. Types There is no de ...

s typical of TB. The Hindu Conference of Canada expressed "shock and dismay" at the decision of the Welsh government. On 20 August, Welsh Assembly Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs Brynle Williams said immediate action would be vital if other animals at Skanda Vale proved positive, and the assembly government said test results were due "soon" and that it would move "swiftly" if necessary. Bhakti, a fifteen-year-old Jersey bullock and Dakshini, a nine-month-old buffalo calf, who had tested positive for TB, were slaughtered on 24 August 2007.