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

Skanda Vale Skanda Vale is a non-denominational spiritual centre and monastery located in Carmarthenshire, Wales, near the village of Llanpumsaint. Founded in 1973 by Guru Sri Subramanium, the monastery is inhabited and run by the Community of the Many Names ...

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 vil ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

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 * Patch t ...

for bovine

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

(''

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

'') 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 be destroyed 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 retired British judge. In 2008, he became the fourth solicitor to be appointed a High Court judge (England and Wales), High Court judge, after Michael Sachs (judge), Michael Sachs in 19 ...

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 an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...

("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 W ...

acted lawfully when she refused to make an exception for Shambo as a sacred bull. 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 ...

of all

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

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 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 is the act of killing one's own mother. Known or suspected matricides * Amastrine, 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 her son, Pto ...

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

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, "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 Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV consists of three distinct codecs: The original video compression technology ...

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 (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 or to evaluate any di ...

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 political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and by the

World Organisation for Animal Health The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), formerly the (OIE), is an intergovernmental organization coordinating, supporting and promoting animal disease control. Mission and status The main objective of the WOAH is to control epizo ...

. 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, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh ...

— the

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

, Liberal Democrats, and

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

— 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 the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...

, and an elephant.

Andrew Dismore Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Hendon, 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 members of Parliament that formally calls for debate "on an early day". In practice, they are rarely debated in the House a ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. T ...

: "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, the former Secretary of State for the

Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United ...

(DEFRA), confirmed in his official

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

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 In biology, culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific tr ...

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 and appeal

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 executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

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 an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...

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

. 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 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.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 ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and Switzerland. The animal was taken to a local

abattoir A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

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 state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, 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 disease or trauma. ''Lesion'' is derived from the Latin "injury". Lesions may occur in plants as well as animals. Types There is no designated classif ...

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 Brynle Williams (9 January 1949 – 1 April 2011) was a Welsh Conservative politician who was the Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs from 2007 to 2011, and a Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for the North Wales Region from 2007 to his death i ...

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, which had tested positive for TB, were slaughtered on 24 August 2007.