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| 'Sacred' bullock Shambo is saved | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The "sacred" bullock due to be slaughtered after it tested positive for TB, has been saved after a High Court judge quashed a government order. | |
| Monks from the multi-faith Skanda Vale community in Carmarthenshire appeared against an assembly government ruling that the animal must be put down. | |
| Their lawyers argued it would breach the Human Rights Convention. | |
| But the Welsh Assembly Government said that killing Shambo would eliminate the risk of the disease spreading. | |
| The reasons for the judgement will be given later. | |
| The decision came after lawyers representing both the assembly government and the Skanda Vale community laid out their arguments in a hearing in Cardiff on Thursday. | |
| Judges had adjourned the hearing to consider over the weekend whether there should be a judicial review on the proposed slaughter. | |
| David Anderson QC for the Skanda Vale community near Llanpumsaint, said Shambo was an animal of "considerable religious importance" and as such a policy devised for farm animals could not be applied to it. | David Anderson QC for the Skanda Vale community near Llanpumsaint, said Shambo was an animal of "considerable religious importance" and as such a policy devised for farm animals could not be applied to it. |
| 'Desecration' | |
| He said members of the community believed that slaughtering the six-year-old black Friesian would be "a desecration of the temple". | He said members of the community believed that slaughtering the six-year-old black Friesian would be "a desecration of the temple". |
| He referred to article nine of the European Convention of Human Rights which guarantees "the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion" and the right to "to manifest religion or belief in worship". | He referred to article nine of the European Convention of Human Rights which guarantees "the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion" and the right to "to manifest religion or belief in worship". |
| Mr Anderson said slaughtering Shambo would be a "serious infringement in a deeply-held belief". | Mr Anderson said slaughtering Shambo would be a "serious infringement in a deeply-held belief". |
| But Clive Lewis QC for the Welsh Assembly Government, said bovine tuberculosis was an infectious disease capable of transmission to other animals, including wildlife and humans. | But Clive Lewis QC for the Welsh Assembly Government, said bovine tuberculosis was an infectious disease capable of transmission to other animals, including wildlife and humans. |
| He said the matter had been carefully considered by the Rural Development Minister Jane Davidson, who ordered Shambo's destruction earlier in July after taking advice from the chief veterinary officer and the chief medical officer. | He said the matter had been carefully considered by the Rural Development Minister Jane Davidson, who ordered Shambo's destruction earlier in July after taking advice from the chief veterinary officer and the chief medical officer. |
| Online petition | Online petition |
| Mr Lewis also told the court there was no accepted treatment for bovine TB in the UK, and that under control measures, slaughter was carried out to protect human and animal health. | Mr Lewis also told the court there was no accepted treatment for bovine TB in the UK, and that under control measures, slaughter was carried out to protect human and animal health. |
| A campaign to save Shambo has included an online petition which has attracted more than 20,000 names. A video stream has also been broadcast live from Shambo's pen in the temple. | A campaign to save Shambo has included an online petition which has attracted more than 20,000 names. A video stream has also been broadcast live from Shambo's pen in the temple. |
| The assembly government are almost certain to appeal. | |