Vet Times The website for the veterinary profession https://www.vettimes.co.uk BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: RITUAL SLAUGHTER’S SHADOW ON NEPAL Author : Russell Lyon Categories : Vets Date : May 14, 2012 Russell Lyon looks at some of Nepal’s Hindu festivals, and ponders what can be done to educate people about improving animal welfare standards I AM not a vegetarian – I never have been and I have no intention in adopting that way of life. However, after a short time in Nepal, I suddenly found my appetite for meat and its products had lessened. I had two good reasons. There is no meat hygiene inspection or control of animal slaughter in Nepal. Most animals seem to be butchered beside the roadway, in back alleys and Hindu temples. The meat is then consumed by the individual family that has bought the animal, or it is sold and eaten without any safeguards or checks. It has been estimated 90 per cent of random meat supplies in the Kathmandu area are contaminated with bacteria such as Salmonella. I expect the statistics are not much different in any third world country. Getting a stomach upset is very common, and you don’t have to look far to find the reason. Visitors are always advised to be very careful only to drink bottled or boiled water, and avoid salads or fruit unless you can peel or wash them yourself. If it is fresh and well cooked, meat should be safe, but if it comes in a sauce, such as a curry, it is very suspect and best avoided – as I learned to my cost after a few days. The other, and more significant, reason for my reduced meat consumption was ritual slaughter. 1 / 5 The standard diet for most Nepalese people is daal bhaat, which is vegetarian. It consists of boiled rice, which is bhaat, and a thick lentil soup, which is daal. If you are lucky, there will also be some curried vegetables, some pickles and a chapati. If you eat like a local, you pour the soup over the rice and then mix the rice into small balls with your fingers and then use your right hand cram it into your mouth. If you are a dainty foreigner like me you ask for a spoon, which is readily supplied. Daal bhaat is eaten twice a day and is very bland – it’s not surprising that many Nepalese, being mostly Hindu, look forward to religious festivals, where animals are sacrificed to appease the more terrifying Hindu gods and the people gorge on meat. In countries with a Hindu culture, women can be seen carrying a copper plate filled with an assortment of flower petals, rice, yoghurt, fruit and vegetables most morning. It is taken to the local temple, where it is offered to a deity and a bell is rung to let the gods know an offering has been made. This means the now-sacred offering can be taken home as a blessing from the gods and offered to the rest of the family. These simple daily offerings are not enough to propitiate the gods at festival times, and many animals are killed as sacrifices to the Hindu deities. Dasain is the most important of all the annual Nepalese festivals, and it occurred during the last week of my time in Nepal. It consists of 15 days of celebration, when thousands of Nepalese go home to celebrate with their families. In the HART Clinic (Himalayan Animal Rescue Trust) all the vets and nurses went home, which left HART director Khageshwaar Sharma and I to cover emergencies. On the ninth day of the celebration, many thousands of animals are ritually sacrificed. It is a widespread practise in Nepal. In 2009, it was estimated more than a million animals were killed in this way in Nepal. Many Indian states have banned ritual slaughter, but this means a large number of Hindus come from India to Nepal to practise this part of their religion. Fortunately, not all Hindus in India and Nepal believe in animal sacrifice and, indeed, the religion does not dictate the need for ritual killing. Gandhi and Nehru were opposed to the ill-treatment of animals, and Nehru said that a country is judged on how it treats its animals. Before Dasain, I went on a trek, which entailed a drive of about 10 miles west of Pokhara before we started walking. The road was almost continually blocked by many huge flocks of goats (with some sheep as well), all being herded to Pokhara for slaughter at the festival. I was told most of the animals and herdsmen had been on the road for days, having travelled, in many cases, from Tibet and China. Quite a few animals were lame. The same could be seen throughout Nepal, as it has been estimated that 250,000 goats are involved at Dasain. The locals were complaining about the prices being very high this year. A quoted price was up to 18,000 Nepalese rupees, which is about £140. The animals are sold to individuals and temples 2 / 5 where they are killed by decapitation. The slaughter can be a grisly business, as often the head of the family – however inexperienced or young – has to be the person making the sacrifice. Many animals are also killed in temples by Hindu priests, who are often expert in what they do, but the buildings become like charnel houses. Some families will kill their goat by the side of the road, and the gutters run with blood. Most westerners and Buddhists will avoid these scenes if they can, but it’s not always possible. A friend told me about going into a dress shop and wanting to try on a garment, and she was ushered into a back bedroom. She was confronted by a small goat tied to a bed ready for the next day’s ceremonies. She left hurriedly without buying anything. Many of the truly shocking statistics and eyewitness accounts and photographs of ritual slaughter have been compiled from the work of Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN). I have not been able to verify many of them, but there is so much information that if only a tenth was true – and I have every reason not to doubt any of it – then it is truly shocking and horrifying. Within Nepalese culture, animal sacrifices can be a part of everyday life. It can be gruesome in the extreme. Most killing is done by decapitation, which from the animal’s point of view I suppose might – if it is done well and quickly – be more humane than slitting the throat with a knife without prior stunning. Unfortunately, during times of mass sacrifices, many of the killings are botched very badly, often by drunk assailants. Buffaloes and goats are the main targets, but pigs, chickens and even rats are killed to allow blood from the victims to be sprinkled over religious images such as statues. The Nepalese government does not appear to attempt to stop these rituals, and it indeed seems to support animal sacrifices by paying to publicly behead 54 buffaloes and 54 male goats last year during Dasain. This was followed by the killing of 108 buffaloes by the Nepalese army. Young children watch these practices, which have been screened on live television. This can only support many of them in the belief that violence against animals is approved adult behaviour, and that animals can be beheaded in the name of a Hindu god. There are many really awful stories to relate. During the Khokana Festival, a live young goat is thrown into a pond, nine young men attack it, bite it to death and basically tear it apart. The youth who ultimately kills the goat is proclaimed the “hero” and leads a dance procession. According to AWNN, this annual ritual goes back to a young person accidently drowning in the pond. At first, fruit and vegetables were thrown into the water to appease the gods, but this was soon deemed to be ineffective and the whole spectacle was turned into a blood sport. Fortunately, since 2010, due to AWNN’s protests, the biting and dismembering has stopped, but the goat is still drowned. 3 / 5 Other extreme forms of sacrifice have been reported to me, including burning live snakes, live skinning of pigs and removal of live animal hearts. Diverse Nepal is a country of huge contrasts. It is amazingly beautiful, with the Himalayas dominating the landscape. Wherever you are in the country, your eyes are drawn to the peaks, and you never tire of looking at their stark splendour. But there is a huge contrast between the splendours of the countryside and the pollution, filth and squalid appearance of much of urban living, especially in Kathmandu. The children are a delight. They play games in the streets, and are bright-eyed, smiling and happy. They seem to be healthy and well-nourished without a care in the world, and yet it is well documented that a deadly trade in child trafficking is common in Nepal. Children from very poor families in the countryside are spirited away from parents in the belief they are going to a better life, but end up in prostitution. Sacred So it is with the treatment of animals. In Nepal, like most Hindu countries, cows are regarded as sacred. Causing the death of a cow or calf could result in a huge fine or even a two-year prison sentence. Why are cows considered sacred? It is because, I am told, they were the favourite animal of the Lord Krishna and became a symbol of wealth, strength and abundant selfless giving.