Shambo the bull faces death again

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The fate of the six-year-old bullock has been in the balance since testing positive for bovine tuberculosis earlier this year.

According to official regulations, Shambo must be put down to stop the infection spreading.

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Shambo: His keepers are horrified by the ruling

However, his Hindu monk keepers at the Skanda Vale temple near Carmarthen in West Wales insist he is a revered animal which must not be killed.

They fought a slaughter order served by the Welsh Assembly. Last week it appeared their determination to save the Friesian had been rewarded when a High Court judge ruled the decision to destroy the temple bull was unlawful.

The monks had claimed killing Shambo was a breach of their human rights as it interfered with their religious beliefs.

On Monday, however, the Court of Appeal ordered the slaughter notice be reinstated.

Lord Justice Pill, sitting with two other judges, said former rural affairs minister Jane Davidson acted lawfully when she refused to make an exception for Shambo.

The judge said: "I have come to the conclusion that the minister was entitled to make the decision she did in regard to the very considerable problem presented by bovine TB.

"The decision to eliminate the risk by slaughter and not to permit an exception to the slaughter policy was, in my judgment, justified."

The judges refused a last plea for the slaughter to be stayed for seven days, paving the way for the animal to be put down.

Supporters of the bull have already threatened to form a human chain around his shed to spare him and an online petition against his death attracted more than 17,000 names. <>Swami Suryananda, from the temple, said: "We are devastated that an animal in our care might be taken away for slaughter, even though it hasn't yet been proven to be a threat to anyone.

"We have consistently asked for other tests to be done to verify if Shambo does have bovine TB.

"It seems ridiculous to kill him and then carry out a postmortem to confirm if he does or does not have TB. We will continue to seek ways to spare Shambo's life."