Bull

[English assassin]

I'm slightly surprised we haven't had this one, unless I missed it in news of the weird maybe.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/country/ar...135987,00.html

News in brief: A sacred bull, Shambo, in Hindu temple in Wales (stop sniggering at the back) tests positive for TB. UK regulations say all cattle with TB must be killed, some footling nonsense about not spreading deadly diseasesto humans and other cattle. But Shambo is a God (or something, I am a bit hazy on that).

Now, frankly, if all this religion stuff was worth much, you would think that a god could look after himself in a showdown with the Welsh assembly Government, even a god that looks like a cow. But the monks took the decidedly secular step of going to court to prevent Shambo's reunification with his fellow gods. Entirely predictably, the high court agreed we must "respect" their "religious beliefs". (In passing, no one seemed to want to respect my rather more solidly based belief that TB is a dangerous diease. Or that cows are tasty to eat.)

Fortunately the court of appeal is made of sterner stuff, at least for now, and yesterday Shambo was taken away, after a predictable sit down protest by middle class people with nothing better to worry about, oops, I mean, the karmic flower children of god. PC Plod was heard to mutter thank god it wasn't the muslims. Maybe.

Shambo's webcam is here, http://www.skandavale.org/webcam/webcam.htm although Shambo himself is not.

What got my attention, other than the typically random and nutty nature of all this, was this quote at the end

Another monk said: "Today they broke into the temple to take away a cargo to kill but they cannot kill Shambo. They will simply add to the drama of his life cycle and he will come back again."

Well in that case WHAT WAS ALL THE FUSS ABOUT???

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

This whole thing has been really ticking me off too. I thought the High Court decision was completely mad; there are probably hundreds of people who have had beloved pet cows or sheep slaughtered due to this sort of thing, who were very sad about it. But because these people's attachment to the cow is based on a superstition, they get a free pass? Where do they get these judges?

Thank god that, as you say, the Court of Appeal has apparently still got some balls.

[Gregoshi]

Apparently the High Court is a bunch of cow herds.

[atheotes]

from the guardian article:

Shortly after 7pm, two men in blue hard hats entered Shambo's enclosure and led the animal away. As he went, the police officers removed their hats as a mark of respect.

Wonder if they did it voluntarily (adviced maybe)

[KafirChobee]

Gah! More BULL from the UK? J/K

Cow would have been slaughtered and eaten here before detecting any disease - we don't need no stinking testing in the USA (one out of every one thousand cattle is all we need).

Though, religion is a touchy thing - regardless of outsiders views of it. Don't see how it could have been handled any better or with any more respect than it was.

[Fragony]

Some have rules some have rights.

[Somebody Else]

Presumably if the cow were a god, it wouldn't succumb to TB anyway. Clearly it did get TB, it was not a god, their religion is false (oh, and they're in Wales too, but that's another story...)

[KukriKhan]

Can one of our resident medico's better inform us of TB test requirements - is the article accurate reporting that more tests, including blood work, should have/could have been done to confirm that the animal did in fact have TB?

Follow-up question: What would been the actual fate of the animal? How would it have been killed, and what of the carcass? Burning?

[Gregoshi]

What would been the actual fate of the animal? How would it have been killed, and what of the carcass? Burning?

A Cowering Inferno?

[Tribesman]

Can one of our resident medico's better inform us of TB test requirements - is the article accurate reporting that more tests, including blood work, should have/could have been done to confirm that the animal did in fact have TB?

Nope , the skin test would have been suffcient , if it was borderline then they would have re tested , if the retest was still borderline then they could have gone for the gamma . Since the vet didn't put it as a borderline case there was no need for any retest .
What should be interesting is the compensation issue , losing the animal due to slaughter after government testing entitles you to compensation at the market value of the animal , what is the market value of a bull that is also a god ?

[English assassin]

what is the market value of a bull that is also a god ?

This must depend on what the god does. If it ***** gold cowpats, then NAW are surely going to be bankrupt. If, as I suspect, it does nothing that an ordinary cow does not also do, then, given that it can't even be sold for burgers, (due to the disasterous karmic effects on your next reincarnation of having eaten a bit of god in a bun with lettuce and relish,) its value is £0.00