Protesters vow to save sacred bull

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Dozens of chanting, praying protesters faced off against local officials at a Hindu monastic community in Wales on Thursday as the saga of Shambo the sacred bullock appeared to be reaching a head.

Officials from the Welsh Assembly had arrived to take away the six-year-old Friesian for slaughter after it had tested positive for bovine TB.

But their way was barred by the protesters who have built a special shrine for Shambo at the monastery and have vowed to save him from the slaughterhouse.

The assembly men were forced to retreat and content themselves with posting a warrant for the animal's removal on the door to the reception area of the Skanda Vale temple near Carmarthen.

"Things are getting pretty crazy and tense," said a spokesman for the community. "The officials are still here, but they cannot get to Shambo."

Vanloads of police were stationed around the Community of the Many Names of God.

The standoff came at the end of months of legal wrangling over the fate of Shambo, which ended this month when the Appeal Court ruled the bullock must die in accordance with the current government policy of slaughtering TB-positive cattle.

The monks were still clinging to hope on Thursday, saying an Indian charity had agreed to take Shambo out of the country, but the chances of his being able to go looked slim.

"We are remaining hopeful, but a lot of people are distressed at what is happening," said the spokesman. "The Welsh government is ignoring any options to keep Shambo alive -- they are set on killing him. We just do not understand that."

He added: "Our religious laws prevent us from assisting in the killing of any life and so we will not help the inspectors remove Shambo. He will remain in his enclosure and they will have to physically desecrate a temple and an act of worship to get him."

Cows are sacred to Hindus and the spokesman said it would be "an appalling desecration of life" if the bullock were slaughtered. More than 23,500 people have signed a protest petition.

The National Farmers Union says no bull should be exempt from the rules governing TB and that to spare Shambo would be unfair on all those farmers who have had to see their stock slaughtered.

A spokesman for the Welsh regional government said the option of allowing Shambo to go to India was not possible because it would put other animals and people at risk.

He added: "exporting the bullock to India would not provide for the post-mortem examination needed for the management of the disease in the rest of the community's herd and the neighboring herds." E-mail to a friend

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