Alex Massie Alex Massie

Shambo to the Slaughter? For shame!

A couple of days ago I mentioned the heart-tugging story of Shambo, the Heroic Hindu Bull in west Wales threatened with execution simply because he’s contracted TB. This is just the sort of story the British press, bless it, loves: peaceful Hindus, a placid animal, heartless bureaucrats, death, grim gallows humour…It’s the perfect silly season story. And indeed, a Google News search reveals brings up 761 stories concerning Shambo’s plight.

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According to a wire report, the latest exciting developments include:

The plight of Shambo, a bull at the Skanda Vale monastery in Wales, was captured in real-time drama as the monastery launched an Internet campaign to save his life. A Webcast called Moo Tube was tracking the movements of the flower-garlanded bull in his hay-filled shrine. Shambo was given a reprieve last week when a Welsh judge ordered local authorities to reconsider their decision to kill the bull, considered sacred in the Hindu faith.

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