BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | South West Wales | Farmers' worries if Shambo spared

Farmers' worries if Shambo spared

Farmers say they have sympathy for a "sacred" bullock facing slaughter - but feel the animal must be put down.
Global attention has focused on a campaign by monks at the Skanda Vale Temple in Carmarthenshire to save Shambo after it tested positive for TB.
The six-year-old British Friesian is due to be killed by Monday, 21 May, according to assembly government rules.
National Farmers' Union (NFU) Cymru president Dai Davies said exceptions could not be made.
Skanda Vale Temple, known as the Community of the Many Names of God, is a multi-denominational monastic centre at Llanpumsaint, which embraces all religious faiths and includes three Hindu shrines.
We hope we can work together to find a solution that doesn't involve killing
Brother Michael
More than 6,000 people have signed an online petition to save Shambo, but the final decision on its fate rests with the Welsh Assembly Government.
The monks are trying to set up a webcam - dubbed Moo Tube - so that supporters around the world can keep an eye on Shambo.
Mr Davies, a dairy farmer in nearby Whitland, said the case was "a difficult one".
"There is always sympathy to anyone who has livestock slaughtered," he said.
'Reservoir of infection'
"But it is a crippling disease and the only strategy from the assembly government at the moment is the slaughter of infected cattle.
"If you have an infected animal, it's a reservoir of infection."
Mr Davies said that there were many other TB cases where appeals for leniency had been in vain.

Government vet Christianne Glossop visited the temple on Friday
"There are lots of cases where prize animals were involved and people's livelihoods depended on it but, as they were infected, they had to obey the law of the land," he said.
"One is sympathetic, but you can't make exceptions or the whole thing snowballs - you have to follow the strategy of the vets."
The temple's Brother Michael has claimed that the case could become an international incident.
"I have just had a call from Australia - we have had Fox news, French news, CNN India, Russian media and a journalist from Canada - it's such an important issue," he said.
He said the assembly government had the flexibility in law to make an exception to save Shambo.
"We have appealed for them to use that discretion. We hope we can work together to find a solution that doesn't involve killing."
He hoped the webcam would allow people to check that Shambo was "happy and alright". "We have the kit and are trying to get it set up as soon as possible," he said.
On Friday, Christianne Glossop, the Welsh Assembly Government's senior veterinary officer, visited Shambo and vowed to treat the issue sensitively.
Last year, 5,220 cattle in Wales were culled because they failed the TB test.


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