Councillor: Cow killing wrong

7:18am Friday 14th December 2007

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THE sudden execution of a sacred cow in Letchmore Heath has caused outrage among hundreds of Hindus, who have described it as a calamity with significant consequences.

Councillor Anjana Patel, portfolio holder for community and cultural services at Harrow Council, said Gangotri, a 13-year-old Belgian Blue and Jersey Cross should not have been killed.

Cllr Patel explained the religious objections of the monks based on a Hindu religious text called the Bhagavad Gita.

She said: "I know that it is against what it says in the Bhagavad Gita. The cow is one of the very holy animals.

"We consider the cow to be like our mother and thats the reason for not putting it down. For me, I don't think they should have done it."

The killing of Gangotri, which took place at Bhaktivedanta Manor yesterday has been described as "religious sacrilege of the worst kind" by the temple's president.

But the RSPCA have defended the decision to put the animal down, saying that it was suffering greatly after being crippled by a bull in September last year.

Gangotri, unable to stand since the accident, was killed with a fatal dose of barbiturate by a vet.

The RSPCA were assisted by police after being granted a warrant legally allowing them to enter the temple and kill the animal.

Stuart Coyle, Head farm manager at the temple, said the unexpected killing was an act of betrayal and deception, and said RSPCA officers pushed aside monks and sneaked into the enclosure.

He said a meeting on Wednesday night suggested there would be time to appeal against the decision and there no reason to suspect an early morning operation.

He said: "We were under the impression we would have some time, it's extremely shocking that they came in at 7.45am to kill our cow.

"The chief RSPCA officer stopped me from going in. They said they wanted to examine her and instead gave her a lethal injection.

"It's like they've come to my house and killed my own child in front of me. I've been farm manager since 1993. The cow has been my life. She was not in old age and was determined to live. It is disgusting."

RSPCA Superintendent Tim Wass admitted the temple was not told about the killing in advance, as this would have made it difficult to carry out the operation.

He added: "It was all conducted in an open, honest and frank manner. There was never any suggestion of us creeping around or deceiving anyone. Waiting for the legal system to tackle a difficult theological conundrum was not an option.

"Three vets, one of them from The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons said it was in a heavy state of suffering, it had multiple sores and pressure points, its respiratory rate was three times what it should be. It had no chance of ever standing in the future."

He described the day as both the easiest and most difficult day of his career, insisting that there was no doubt that ending the animal's suffering was the best action.

He said a farmer responsible for an animal with half as many health problems as Gangotri would be open to prosecution and exceptions should not be made on religious grounds.

Mr Coyle disagreed, saying: "There is no way people should be allowed to just kill animals this way. She couldn't walk but lived a happy life.

"If you walked past her you would have thought she was just lying down. She was never a threat to anyone. The RSPCA don't believe in nursing animals.

"They are a dispenser of death. This is not just a Hindu issue, it is a calamity that will have serious implications."

Temple president Gauri Das, said: "This is shocking and duplicitous behaviour, we have been deceived by those who had given us their word."

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