A mass animal killing in Nepal will go ahead as planned, despite protests from around the world, according to officials from that nation.
A ritual sacrifice to the Hindu Goddess Gadhimai will involve killing thousands of animals in a short period of time. The observance is carried out once every five years. The last time the sacrifices were held, in 2009, around 250,000 goats, sheep, buffalo, and chickens lost their lives during the course of just two days.
Gadhimai is the Goddess of power in the Hindu religion, and devotees believe that sacrificing an animal in her name will bring prosperity to the adherent. Many of the animals brought to the temple are youngsters, a large portion of which are illegally imported from India. In October 2014, the Supreme Court of India ordered a stop to the flow of cattle and buffalo leaving that nation for the fair in Nepal. Since that time, authorities have arrested around 100 people, and recovered more than 2,500 animals marked for death.
"On November 28 and 29, water buffalo, cows, goats, chickens, pigs, pigeons, ducks and rats will be decapitated with blunt metal tools in an alcohol-fueled killing frenzy. An estimated 70 percent of the animals have historically been imported from India, enduring days of suffering without adequate food, water or shelter during transport," Humane Society International India (HSI) stated in a press release, meant to draw attention to the massive animal slaughter, which they estimate could take the lives of 500,000 animals over a weekend.
Roads leading to the Gadhimai fair are lined with vendors selling animals for visitors to slaughter. Organizers of the event also sell meat and hides from the carcasses, profiting from the massacre. According to HSI, remains of thousands of dead animals are allowed to rot in the Sun, one of many factors which could lead to significant health and environmental risks.
"There are no roads, no infrastructure, not a single public bus, no sanitation and no drinking water. There are human feces everywhere. A number of people have come, and everybody is carrying an animal to be sacrificed," N.G. Jayasimha, HSI director, told the press.
The ritual opens with prayers from the chief priest of the temple, which will include the speaker cutting himself, as a symbolic offer of human blood to begin the ceremony.
A petition on Change.org, asking the Supreme Court of Nepal to ban the practice, has over slightly over 4,000 signatories.
"We consider this ritual a barbaric violence perpetrated the massacres and sacrifices of animals, and we urge you to stop the sacrifice of animals because religion is not death, religion is not a cult of death," the petition reads.
A meat contractor based in Nepal will clear many of the animal corpses following the slaughter.
