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Judges hear 'sacred' bull appeal Assembly appeals Shambo cull halt
(about 3 hours later)
Three appeal court judges have begun hearing the case of Shambo the bullock who tested positive for tuberculosis (TB) at a Hindu temple in west Wales. The high court judge who overturned a slaughter notice for a "sacred" bullock had "substantially" misinterpreted the evidence, the appeal court has heard.
The assembly government is asking them to overturn the ruling of a high court judge that it acted unlawfully in ordering Shambo's slaughter.The assembly government is asking them to overturn the ruling of a high court judge that it acted unlawfully in ordering Shambo's slaughter.
Lawyers for the monks at the multi-faith Skanda Vale community said it infringed their human rights.Lawyers for the monks at the multi-faith Skanda Vale community said it infringed their human rights.
On Monday, a High Court judge quashed the slaughter decision.On Monday, a High Court judge quashed the slaughter decision.
His Honour Judge Gary Hickinbottom said it was unlawful and should be reconsidered. His Honour Judge Gary Hickinbottom had found in favour of the Skanda Vale community in near Llanpumsaint, Carmarthenshire, whose monks consider the six-year-old Frisian cross a sacred animal.
At the Court of Appeal sitting in Cardiff on Friday, the assembly government argued that his decision was wrong in law and that evidence had been misinterpreted. "In our submission, that is simply not a fair reflection of the decision-making process Jonathan Crow QC, for the assembly government
He had ruled that the "surveillance and slaughter" policy adopted by the assembly was not a legitimate objective. He ruled that the assembly government had "adopted the wrong approach in this case" and had not given enough weight to the rights of the monks, who claim slaughtering Shambo would breach their human rights to practice religion.
Shambo is housed in a temple in the grounds of Skanda Vale Jonathan Crow QC, representing the assembly government at the appeal court hearing in Cardiff on Friday, told the three judges that Judge Hickinbottom's ruling should never have been made.
But Jonathan Crow QC said the objective was to control bovine TB and that "surveillance and slaughter" was the accepted means to achieve it. He said the order for Shambo's slaughter had been made to protect public health and that the surveillance-and-slaughter policy was the way to achieve it.
He said the judge had also been wrong in finding that the assembly government had not given enough weight to the right of the monks at Skanda Vale near Llanpumsaint, Carmarthenshire, to practise their religion. He also challenged the judge's view that former assembly rural affairs minister Jane Davidson had not taken into consideration the Skanda Vale community's recommendation to isolate the animal and treat it for possible bovine TB.
He said the decision had been taken on the basis that slaughtering Shambo was a grave interference with that right but was still essential on health grounds. Religious matters
The three court of appeal judges said they will reserve their decision. He said: "In our submission, that is simply not a fair reflection of the decision-making process."
On Monday, His Honour Judge Gary Hickinbottom had said that his judgement did not guarantee that, as the community wished, Shambo would live until he dies a natural death. Mr Crow said Ms Davidson had decided it was still necessary to protect public health even though she understood that slaughtering Shambo would interfere with the community's right to practice religion.
'Wrong approach' Mark Hoskins, representing Skanda Vale, told Lords Justice Pill, Lloyd and Thomas that, for the monks, Shambo's slaughter "would be comparable to killing a human being".
He said: "This judgement merely rules that the decisions of 3 May and 3 July to issue the slaughter notice and to pursue the slaughter under that notice were unlawful and will be quashed." He said Ms Davidson - replaced on Thursday by Plaid Cymru AM Elin Jones - had taken expert advice on health issues in the case but not on religious matters.
The assembly government, he added, "have adopted the wrong approach in this case" and would now have to reconsider the matter. The three judges have said they will reserve judgment.
"They will be obliged to reconsider the public health objectives that underlie behind the surveillance and slaughter policy, and come to a view as to whether, in the reasonable pursuit of those objectives, the slaughter of this animal (or some less intrusive measure) would be proportional given the serious infringement of the community's rights under Article Nine that slaughter would involve." The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) has said the high court decision to quash the slaughter order could set back control of bovine TB in Wales, where last year 5,220 cattle were culled under the surveillance-and-slaughter policy .
Speaking outside the court on Monday, Brother Alex, a monk at Skanda Vale, said: "The judge has vindicated what has been our position all along, that there are viable alternatives to slaughtering an animal." Online and written petitions in support of Skanda Vale have attracted more than 21,000 names, and a video stream has also been broadcast live from Shambo's pen.
Last year, 5,220 cattle in Wales alone were culled because they failed the TB test, and the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) said the decision to quash the slaughter order could set back disease control.
Online and written petitions have attracted more than 21,000 names, and a video stream has also been broadcast live from Shambo's pen in the Skanda Vale temple.