EXCLUSIVE: Animal Equality investigates the Gadhimai animal sacrifice
Animal Equality has investigated the Gadhimai animal sacrifice, the world's largest ritual sacrifice. The exclusive images include footage filmed with drones that show the scale of the massacre.
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Transcript (English — en-x-autogen)
The largest ritual killing in the world.
The Gati Mai Festival
that is held every five years in Nepal took place in
December, 2019.
Animal equality is campaigning tirelessly to put a stop
to the animal sacrifice at the Garima Festival.
It's only thanks to the help of our activists, volunteers,
and supporters in India
and worldwide that we can work
to end this brutal massacre forever.
Most of the animals sacrificed at the Denai Festival are
forced to walk for hours, sometimes days.
Others are transported in cramped,
suffocating conditions in buses, trucks, and bicycles.
They suffer this long journey starved of food and water.
Pigeons and chickens are packed into bamboo baskets, cages
and plastic on net bags with no breathing space.
Devotees gather in the evening
before the festival to watch the punch belly, the killing
of the first five animals.
This marks the beginning of the sacrifice.
According to reports about 50 devotees were given a license
by the Temple Committee to carry out the sacrifice.
None of these executioners had any experience in slutching
animals and many of them were intoxicated.
One of the executioners we spoke with admitted this
from a headcount of the aerial footage taken
by the animal Equality's exclusive drone footage
of the be enclosure.
Approximately 3,203 animals were killed this year.
One by one. Each of these beers was hacked to death.
We witnessed how many beers knowing that they were next,
gathered together in corners against the walls in a
desperate attempt to save themselves some
of the bigger animals that still had energy left,
tried to get away.
Desperately, the killers chased
after them pulling their tails and legs to immobilize them.
Many times, the executioners could not behead the
fellows in one attempt.
They tried time
and time again until the animals were fully decapitated.
The slaughter of goats by thousands of devotees
took place in the surrounding fields outside the temple.
Animal equality witnessed pigeons being thrown on the
rooftop of the temple
to be slaughtered later for their meat.
All these cruelties violate the order of the Supreme Code
of Nepal, which states that cruel, brutal,
and unkind treatment towards animals should not be allowed.
Many devotees were seen setting up their
cooking pots in the fields.
The flesh of the wasted animals is salvaged and coed.
Children who witnessed this mass killing
of animals were terrified.
Many are seen crying and shaking in fear.
We spoke with some devotees who agreed
that animal sacrifice impacts children negatively
and it should be a polished animal.
Equality has been working
to end this garima animal sacrifice since 2014.
In 2019, we took our efforts even further,
collecting over 90,000 signatures to ban the killing
and holding protests outside the Nepal Embassy in Spain
urging the government of Nepal to ban animal sacrifice
and introducing a law against it
to discourage animal sacrifice.
And in keeping with original tradition, animal equality
collaborated with the Red Cross Society of Nepal
to organize a blood donation camp
where devotees give their bloods to appease the DT
and save a life instead of killing innocent animals.
Animal equality has also investigated the sacrifice despite
several difficulties obtaining exclusive drone footage
so the world can see the barric cruelty inflicted on the
animals at the Gamay Festival.
Watching this cruel footage, it is easy to get discouraged,
but there is a reason for hope.
While the temple was expecting
to slaughter 15,000 be fellows in 2019.
However, 3,200 and threes were killed.
This staggering reduction is due to the global outrage.
We must continue putting pressure
to end this sacrifice forever.
Animal equality has worked tirelessly on this campaign.
We strongly believe that we are at the beginning of the end
of the Gadi MA animal sacrifice,
but we need your help
to end this animal's massacre for good.
These are some of the very few animals which managed
to escape the sacrifice.
Only because the timing of the sacrifice was ended.
There was a deadline, and that's the only reason.
So there are about 12 animals over here.
If you take a look, there are 12 animals
which managed to escape the brutal sacrifice.
Please sign our petition today.