Two more animals from the Skanda Vale Hindu temple in Wales have been slaughtered after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis.
Jersey bullock Bhakti was slaughtered in his pen at a temple, while eight-month-old water buffalo Dakshini was taken to an abattoir.
The deaths came a month after sacred bull Shambo was put down for the same reason following a long legal battle by temple authorities to save him.
On Thursday, priests prayed at the temple near Carmarthen, West Wales, as the animals were destroyed.
Hindu priest Brother Michael said the slaughter of these animals “is an unacceptable desecration of our way of life”, but Welsh Assembly Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones argued that the government had a “duty to protect human and animal health.”
A government vet and a team of 10 officials were met by up to 80 Hindu protesters as they came to put down the two animals.
Bhakti was sedated and given a lethal injection and was dead within two minutes. The body was bundled up in plastic and and winched on to a trailer. An emotional Brother Michael stood in silent prayer as the injection was administered.