Two more animals at Hindu centre have TB

Two more animals at the religious community where Shambo the sacred bull lived before he was slaughtered have tested positive for bovine TB.

An eight-month-old water buffalo calf named Dakshini and a 20-year-old Friesian bull called Bhakti now face the same fate as Shambo.

A spokesman for the Skanda Vale temple in Carmarthenshire said: 'We hope the Welsh Assembly takes a cooperative approach so we do not get the same outcome as with Shambo.

'Our arguments are still the same. We still believe in the sanctity of life. Killing is not an option for us.'

The community also has an elephant, ten ponies, 13 water buffalo, 12 goats, 40 cows and bulls, two llamas, 20 deer, about 300 poultry and waterfowl, more than 100 fish, five terrapins and more than 20 rabbits.

The monks consider the lives of all animals to be sacred and insist animals with TB can be treated without posing a risk to human health.