Just one thing I want to say about Shambo. Whilst I’m happy for people to believe whatever nonsense they want in the privacy of their own homes (or temples), belief in fairy stories (no matter how firmly held) cannot be allowed to stand in the way of public health considerations.
Ramesh Kallidai, Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said he wanted “to check how agricultural law can cater to the needs of sacred animals in Hindu temples in Britain”. Well, it can’t and it shouldn’t. “Sacred animals” do not exist. Calling an animal sacred doesn’t alter that animal in any way. The animal and its owners still need to obey the relevant laws. As Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said, it is absolutely unacceptable for people to say their religious rights are supreme.
I hope the protesters are all arrested for attempting to prevent government officials from doing their duty. And I hope the temple at the centre of the row is billed for the extra police resources that were used.
My favourite moment on News 24 last night was the man demanding that Shambo should be spared because there was no “empirical proof” (his words, not mine) that there was a public health threat. I rather wished someone had asked him to come back with his “empirical proof” that the animal was sacred.
Poor old Shambo. What I think is interesting is that if it was a person that had TB, there wouldn’t be a cry of “Slaughter the bastard or we’ll all get it!”