The slaughter of more than 5,000 buffaloes at the Gadhimai animal sacrifice festival in Nepal has garnered global condemnation.
According to The Independent, several animal charities had worked to stop the slaughter - the first of its kind since an estimated 200,000 animals and birds were sacrificed in 2009 - but only succeeded in pressuring the Indian Government into stopping animals being transported across the border.
It is reported that more numbers of animals and birds await slaughter at the world's largest animal sacrifice ritual in Nepal.
The festival, which is held every five years, saw tens of thousands of devotees flocking the Gadhimai temple at Bariyarpur village in Bara district of southern Nepal to take part in the ritual.
Worshippers practice animal sacrifice to bring them luck and prosperity by appeasing Hindu goddess Gadhimai.
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The Guardian quoted Shristi Singh Shrestha, an animal rights activist with Animal Welfare Network Nepal, as saying that she felt "defeated" because the group was unsuccessful in stopping the slaughter.
However, she said that the positive thing was that the number of livestock killed was falling, adding that the group hoped there would be no killing of any animal at the next festival.
Condemning the ritual as inhumane and barbaric, Surya Upadhya, chairman of the Nepalese Hindu Forum in the UK, said the Nepalese Hindu Forum in the UK completely opposes animal sacrifice, as Hinduism does not sanction the killing of living beings.
