200,000 Animals Slaughtered in Annual Sacrifice

[Ben]

I'd not heard of this before. Looks like they kill in the manner farmers have been using for centuries, and it looks like they eat what they kill.

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576529,00.html

More Than 200,000 Animals Slaughtered at Nepal Sacrifice Festival

Tuesday , November 24, 2009

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Hundreds of thousands of Hindus gathered at a temple in southern Nepal on Tuesday for a ceremony involving the slaughter of more than 200,000 animals, a festival that has drawn the ire of animal-welfare protesters.

A Nepalese minister said it was the largest sacrificial slaughter of animals in the world.

Animal rights groups and activists including the actress Brigitte Bardot have condemned the event, which takes place every five years in the Nepalese village of Bariyarpur, Sky News reported.

But Nepal's government says it will continue with the "centuries-old tradition" and will deploy armed police to keep the peace, Sky News reported.

Protests have occurred in recent weeks in towns near the Gadhimai temple and in the capital Katmandu by animals rights activists and other religious groups. However, Hindu organizers refused to halt the slaughter saying it was a centuries-old tradition.

"People have deep faith in the goddess and they believe that sacrificing animals will bring them good luck and prosperity for their families," said Mangal Chaudhary Tharu, a priest at the Gadhimai temple, according to Sky News.

"I don't think the mood will be spoiled by the animal rights campaigners. They have the right to raise their concerns."

More than 200,000 buffaloes, goats, chickens and pigeons will be killed Tuesday and Wednesday at the temple in the jungles of Bara district, about 100 miles south of Katmandu, to honor the Hindu goddess Gadhimai.

"Thousands of terrified buffaloes will have their heads cut off by drunken devotees," said Bardot, according to Sky News.

"I have dedicated my life to protect animals and the best gift I could receive for this lifelong struggle would be the announcement of the stopping of ritual sacrifice."

Pressure group Animal Nepal claims the festival represents "extreme cruelty," Sky News reported.

Chief government administrator in the area Taranath Gautam said hundreds of thousands of people began lining up in the early hours of Tuesday, and the animal sacrifice rituals had started.

The Gadhimai festival is celebrated every five years. Participants believe sacrificing the animals for Gadhimai will end evil and bring prosperity. Many join the festival from the neighboring Indian state of Bihar, where animal sacrifices have been banned in some areas.

Critics say the killings — carried out by slitting the animals' throats with swords — are barbaric and conducted in a cruel manner.

"We were unable to stop the animal sacrifices this year, but we will continue our campaign to stop killings during this festival," said Pramada Shah of the Animals Nepal group.

Government minister Saroj Yadav said he believed the festival was the biggest animal sacrifice in the world. "We haven't heard a bigger number. ... We are certain this is the largest one," Yadav said.

The slaughtered animals are taken back by devotees to their villages and eaten during a feast. The meat is considered blessed and consuming it protects them from evil.

The Associated Press and Sky News contributed to this report.

[mellestad]

It has been condemned by actress Brigette Bardot!  And animal rights groups!  Oh no!

Seriously though, that is an impressive number, purely for logistics.  100k per day?  I wonder what ratio is of the different animals.  A lot less impressive if it is 99% chickens and pigeons.

[longeyes]

Bardot or no Bardot it's ignorant barbarism.

[dogmush]

Bardot or no Bardot it's ignorant barbarism.

How so?

Ignorant?  They believe differently then you.  Who's to say which belief (if any) is right?

Barbarism?  They're eating them.  Food's got to come from somewhere.  Would you care to guess how many turkey's were killed in the US for this week?  More or less then 200,000?

[mellestad]

Bardot or no Bardot it's ignorant barbarism.

The religious part or the animal killing part?

[Boomhauer]

"Thousands of terrified buffaloes will have their heads cut off by drunken devotees," said Bardot, according to Sky News.

Sounds like a party to me! Fire up the BBQ!

[InfidelSerf]

Bardot or no Bardot it's ignorant barbarism.

I beg to differ.

One could say, that easily millions of animals, will be "ritualistically" consumed this Thursday.
We are all going to feast on the flesh of birds and pigs to give praise to God and thank him for all our blessings.

So what if we let a machine or minimum wage employee handle the "dirty deed"  months before and freeze the re manes.
Until our ceremony takes place.

It's all a matter of perspective.

Now if they were just killing animals for the sake of killing, sure I'd find it a bit macabre.
But I'm not going to protest them for holding ancient beliefs.

The simple fact is, this is a large religious celebration and feast. Party on Katmanduers

"Thousands of terrified buffaloes will have their heads cut off by drunken devotees," said Bardot

So Miss Bardot has never had a glass of wine with her meal?

I suspect she's a vegan or vegitarian.

When are the protests at the vegetable gardens going to start.

"TIME TO SAVE THE TOMATOES FROM THE VEGANS!!!!"
How dare they drink the rotted blood of a grape while the consume the flesh of eggplants and cucumbers.
I'll bet they even take small "swords" to the heads of cabbage!
BARBARIANS!!!!   

[AZRedhawk44]

Critics say the killings — carried out by slitting the animals' throats with swords — are barbaric and conducted in a cruel manner.

Sounds like kosher butchering to me, which is considered more humane than the bulk of America's slaughterhouses.

Bardot or no Bardot it's ignorant barbarism.

India has almost as many people as China.  well over a billion.  The regions surrounding Nepal probably have more people than the eastern US seaboard.  200,000 animals (that will be consumed) dwarfs the 50,000,000 turkeys that die every November for Thanksgiving in the US.

[mellestad]

...
It's all a matter of perspective.
...

I agree.  I think there are two supportable beliefs about animals...either they are beneath humans and we can do whatever we want to with them, for whatever reason...or they are not and we can't.

If these guys want to slaughter a bunch of critters, good for them.  Mainstream American beliefs can be just as silly/barbaric when looked at objectively.

[Gewehr98]

I, too, am doing my part Thursday to religiously sacrifice a 15-pound turkey in a boiling cauldron of 375-degree peanut oil for approximately 45 minutes.

As mentioned before, I would imagine there's probably 200K of those slaughtered this time of year, at least.  I'd be more than happy to share with Brigitte Bardot if she'd like. 

[French G.]

I saw the headline and figured it was some tipped over attack on deer season. 

[Viking]

Sounds like kosher butchering to me, which is considered more humane than the bulk of America's slaughterhouses.

India has almost as many people as China.  well over a billion.  The regions surrounding Nepal probably have more people than the eastern US seaboard.  200,000 animals (that will be consumed) dwarfs the 50,000,000 turkeys that die every November for Thanksgiving in the US.

I have to ask, just what the hell is the standard way of butchering in the US if kosher/halal is considered more humane than the standard way?
Over here (atleast where I work), we gas the animals (pigs), or shoot them (cattle and sheep) before desanguination takes place. I can't really imagine how it would be more humane to slit their throats without stunning them or knocking them out.
What's the procedure over there? Whack em repeatedly over the head with a huge hammer? Strangling?

[Matthew Carberry]

I've always understood that, with a very sharp knife, exsanguination isn't particularly painful.  You get sleepy from lack of O2 to the brain and then you die. 

[BridgeRunner]

I, too, am doing my part Thursday to religiously sacrifice a 15-pound turkey in a boiling cauldron of 375-degree peanut oil for approximately 45 minutes.

 

Damn peanut worshippers.

[Balog]

 

Damn peanut worshippers.

The gun is good, the peanut is evil...

[longeyes]

No, exsanguination is a walk in the park.  Geez Louise.  But it's a nice word; congratulations on your vocabulary.

It's ignorant barbarism because it's not about eating out of necessity, it's about propitiating a goddess to give them good luck.  A beheaded buffalo isn't going to do squat for them--and much less for the buffalo.  They've had "bad luck" for millennia--when are they going to figure out why???

And who was defending the mechanized slaughter of turkeys and pigs?  Not I, certainly.  I'll just wolf down my lentils.

[Angel Eyes]

The gun is good, the peanut is evil...

*groan*

[MicroBalrog]

We don't eat meat out of necessity. We could, should we so choose, have replaced our entire diet with vegetarian proteins. Any meat-eating at all is an act of luxury.

When I order a hamburger, I'm sponsoring (with my money) the killing of a cow merely to sate my gastronomical whims. This is in no way morally superior to a man killing a cow for his religious tastes.

Unless you are a vegetarian and condemn all meat-eating, there's no grounds to condemn these people.

[AZRedhawk44]

I have to ask, just what the hell is the standard way of butchering in the US if kosher/halal is considered more humane than the standard way?
Over here (atleast where I work), we gas the animals (pigs), or shoot them (cattle and sheep) before desanguination takes place. I can't really imagine how it would be more humane to slit their throats without stunning them or knocking them out.
What's the procedure over there? Whack em repeatedly over the head with a huge hammer? Strangling?

A friend of mine working in a cattle slaughterhouse described to me how it works.  You have a blank-firing .22 rifle with a piston in it.  Put it up against the critter's head and the piston breaks the skull and enters the brain, paralyzing and beginning the trip towards death.  Immediately (to get floor space freed up) the animal is hooked to hoists and skinned while still alive, then the throat is slit to drain and the animal is gutted.

From what he describes, the animal is still sensitive to the hoisting/gutting process and the .22 skewer through the head isn't that effective aside from immobilization.

So, that's why the kosher method is kinder.  Dying sucks no matter what, but I would imagine that aside from the initial pain of the blade, bleeding out is more like getting light headed and fainting than anything else.

[RaspberrySurprise]

Meat may be murder, but murder tastes good.

[AJ Dual]

Meat may be murder, but murder tastes good.

I drive to the butcher shop in my Cadillac, it has baby-seal headlights. And it's a convertable, so all the old McDonald's boxes fly out in the wind and scatter on the road. These are the old foam ones, mind you...

[RaspberrySurprise]

I drive to the butcher shop in my Cadillac, it has baby-seal headlights. And it's a convertable, so all the old McDonald's boxes fly out in the wind and scatter on the road. These are the old foam ones, mind you...

John Wayne isn't dead, he's frozen, and when we find the cure for cancer we're gonna thaw him out.

[HankB]

I have a hard time understanding religious objections to the eating of animals - after all, if the Almighty hadn't wanted us to eat animals, then why did He make them out of meat?

(As a matter of interest, did you know that the word "Vegetarian" comes from a Native American word meaning "Bad Hunter?")

By the way, has anyone seen a recent picture of Ms. Bardot? The years have NOT been kind to her!! Maybe there's something lacking in her diet . . .

[mellestad]

We don't eat meat out of necessity. We could, should we so choose, have replaced our entire diet with vegetarian proteins. Any meat-eating at all is an act of luxury.

When I order a hamburger, I'm sponsoring (with my money) the killing of a cow merely to sate my gastronomical whims. This is in no way morally superior to a man killing a cow for his religious tastes.

Unless you are a vegetarian and condemn all meat-eating, there's no grounds to condemn these people.

Nicely put.

[Viking]

A friend of mine working in a cattle slaughterhouse described to me how it works.  You have a blank-firing .22 rifle with a piston in it.  Put it up against the critter's head and the piston breaks the skull and enters the brain, paralyzing and beginning the trip towards death.  Immediately (to get floor space freed up) the animal is hooked to hoists and skinned while still alive, then the throat is slit to drain and the animal is gutted.

From what he describes, the animal is still sensitive to the hoisting/gutting process and the .22 skewer through the head isn't that effective aside from immobilization.

So, that's why the kosher method is kinder.  Dying sucks no matter what, but I would imagine that aside from the initial pain of the blade, bleeding out is more like getting light headed and fainting than anything else.

Slightly different from here then. With pigs, we gas them, usually 4-5 at a time (and often this is enough to kill them outright). After that, the gas chamber opens up on the opposite side of where the pigs entered, and they are tipped out onto a conveyer, where one guy puts a chain around one hind leg on each pig, with the other side attached to a hook that rides on a track in the ceiling, and they are then off to the killing station, where another guy stands with something resembling a crossbreed between a cutlery factory, an octopus and an industrial vaccuum cleaner, (iow, stick handle into throat of pig, and the machine/blade will not only open up it's jugular, it will suck them dry more or less). I haven't slaughtered cattle, but from what I understood, it's similar, only that they shoot one cow/bull each time, chain around the hind leg, hoist up, suck it dry, then send it up to be gutted, skinned etc.