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Shambo, the bull at the centre of a three-month legal fight, has been killed. After a positive test for TB, an order was made for his slaughter, in keeping with the law. However, the multi-faith community where he lived went to court to try to save him as he was a sacred animal to Hindus.
A High Court judge said that the order to kill him was unlawful, but the decision was overturned in the Appeal Court. Police had to be called in as worshippers had formed a human shield around the animal to stop him being taken away. Opinion is very divided on the issue- some believe that he was a danger to the national herd and needed to be killed, while others feel that religious beliefs should be respected and the community had offered to provide sufficient measures to ensure that he would not infect any other animals if he contracted the disease as they planned to isolate him. The authorities cut through the security fence and led the bull away. The following morning they announced that he had been given a lethal injection.
The debate on the issue is unlikely to end with the death of Shambo and may widen into a debate about the policy of killing cows that test positive for TB.
