Drone Reveals Thousands of Sacrificed Animals at Gadhimai
THE DETAILS: Animal Equality’s team on the ground in Nepal has obtained drone images showing the devastating aftermath of today’s religious killing at the Gadhimai festival, the largest animal sacrifice in the world. Thousands of buffalos were massacred just today. Exclusive photos here.
Over the last few hours, Animal Equality’s team also documented:
- Sexual abuse of some of the animals at the temple
- Animals brutally slaughtered with machetes and knives
- Animals transported to the temple in unsafe and unhygienic conditions
- Animals hanging upside down on bicycles
- Emaciated animals without enough food or water
- Calves who froze to death while awaiting slaughter
INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY: Amidst international demands calling for an end to the massacre, thousands of animals will be killed in the next few days despite the fact that Nepal’s supreme court directed the government to end the festival in 2016. The Nepalese government has not only decided to continue with the sacrifice, but they have also banned any filming or photographing during the festival.
WHAT WE’RE DOING: Animal Equality has actively campaigned to stop the killing at this year’s Gadhimai festival for several months, gathering over 53,000 online signatures urging the Nepalese government to ban the slaughter of animals during the festival. We’ve also collaborated with the Red Cross Society of Nepal to organize a blood donation camp, where devotees can give their blood to honor the deity instead of sacrificing animal blood, and our investigators on the ground used drones to capture footage of the massacre.
PREVIOUS FESTIVALS: Over the past decade, we’ve been working to stop the slaughter of animals at the Gadhimai festival, which happens every 5 years. Due to our efforts in 2014, there was a 70% reduction in the number of land animals killed during the event, and footage of the slaughter garnered attention and outrage throughout the world.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING: According to Amruta Ubale, Senior Director of Public Affairs of Animal Equality in India, “after talking with several people working for the temple, it has come to surface that the campaign against the animal sacrifice has created an enough impact to get temple authorities to make sure there is no filming on the ground. The Government of Nepal appears to be concerned about the negative image they are building due to the sacrifice. Still, the temple authorities are making sure the sacrifice continues despite the global outrage.”
How You Can Help Stop The Gadhimai Festival:
Please sign and share our petition asking the Nepalese government to ban the mass killings of animals at Gadhimai festival:
Do you want to help animals here at home? You can protect animals killed for their meat by switching to a plant-based diet. Leave their suffering off your plate with recipes from LoveVeg.com.
