Activists denounce the sacrifice of more than 4,000 animals in Nepal at a Hindu festival

New Delhi: Animal rights activists in India on Wednesday denounced the slaughter of more than 4,000 animals in neighbouring Nepal on the occasion of a Hindu festival celebrated every five years, in which the lives of thousands of goats, buffalos or pigeons are offered in sacrifice to the goddess Gadhimai. “The Gadhimai festival is a black mark on Nepal in the eyes of the world when it comes to animal welfare and public health,” Kiran Ahuja, an expert from the animal rights organisation PETA India, told EFE, adding that most of the sacrifices took place between Sunday and Monday last but continued throughout this week. This popular Hindu festival, which is probably the largest ritual sacrifice in the world, takes place every five years in the Nepalese town of Bariyarpur, near the border with India, and attracts thousands of devotees who bring with them the animals that will later be killed as an offering. According to estimates by the Indian animal rights association Human Society ...